Zeus, Prometheus, and Hades The Greek gods were not all equal in power or status. Prometheus was a part of a family of giants, the Titans. Zeus defeated them and became ruler of all gods. He ordered Prometheus to create humans. Hades, who appears in “Orpheus and Eurydice,” was the ruler of the underworld. He, too, answered to Zeus.
The story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods is, like the story of Pandora’s Box, an important ‘origin-story’ from Greek myth.
- Prometheus, Pandora, Phaethon, Orpheus, Narcissus and Echo, Eros and Psyche, Arion Prometheus Prometheus was a young Titan, no great admirer of Zeus. Although he knew the great lord of the sky hated explicit questions, he did not hesitate to beard him when there was something he wanted to know.
- Chapter 3 passage: In Greek mythology, Prometheus is credited with giving fire to man. This story was originally published in 1895. After reading the passage, students will answer questions on the language, the details and the theme.
But there’s much more to Prometheus than the ‘stealing fire’ story. Let’s delve into the world of Greek mythology, from over two thousand years ago, to see why Prometheus is such a central, and fascinating, figure in ancient myth.
Prometheus was the son of Iapetus and Clymene. Iapetus was a Titan, the Titans being the group of gods who preceded the Olympian gods, so-named because they resided on Mount Olympus.
Prometheus, then, was one of the first gods, a cousin of Zeus and a brother of Atlas, as well as two other Titans, Moneotius and Epimetheus. But Prometheus is also credited with creating the very first humans from clay, so he has a central place in the Greek pantheon. And he would continue to be a friend to mankind.
Curiously, Prometheus’ name is said to mean ‘forethought’, with his brother Epimetheus’ name literally meaning ‘afterthought’. However, an alternative theory states that the name Prometheus is cognate with the Vedic pra math, which literally means ‘to steal’, which would obviously make sense given the story of Prometheus stealing fire and giving it to humans (of which more below). So, although Prometheus may mean ‘forethought’, we cannot be sure – even though it’s often repeated as though it’s incontrovertible fact.
And the Vedic connection points up Prometheus’ links with other trickster gods in other civilisations. Most pantheons have one: Norse legends have Loki, while the Sumerians had Enki, and the Vedic texts had Mātariśvan, who even brought fire to humankind.
As with the tale of Pandora’s Box, the story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods first turns up in the work of Hesiod, in his Theogony. (We’ve written about Hesiod’s other great poem, the Works and Days, here.) And as with the story of Pandora’s Box, which wasn’t actually a box at all, there is plenty that we get wrong, misremember, or simply do not know about the actual myth, as it was first outlined in Hesiod.
The tale of Prometheus is well-known because it explains how mankind came into possession of fire, thus enabling man to form civilisations. Or rather, it does and it doesn’t.
You see, Prometheus didn’t so much steal fire from his fellow gods and give it to humankind as steal fire back from the gods and give it back to humankind. In Hesiod’s telling of the story – and his is the earliest full account of the story of Prometheus – man already had possession of fire, but Zeus withdrew it. And it’s all because Prometheus tricked him. Or rather, tried to trick him.
Why did Prometheus steal divine fire from his fellow gods and give it to man (or rather, give it back to man) in the first place, though?
Once again, Hesiod lays out the backstory. It all goes back to a tasty bit of ox, which Prometheus served up for his cousin and the other gods, as well as for the first men. Prometheus, known for his cunning, served up the ox in two ways: to Zeus and the other gods, he offered up the ox’s stomach, which didn’t look very appealing as you can imagine. Inside the stomach, he had concealed the meat and entrails rich in fat, as well as the fleshy skin of the ox.
Meanwhile, to the men, Prometheus served up the ox’s bones, which he had concealed beneath a tasty-looking layer of the animal’s fat.
Zeus was annoyed. Why had Prometheus given the juicy-looking portions to the mere mortals, while he and the other deities were being served up nothing but the ox’s stomach? He called out Prometheus on this.
Prometheus – being cunning, remember – invited Zeus to choose whichever of the two servings he would prefer, in that case. But Zeus was too canny to be tricked, and promptly inspected the fatty bones and stomach full of juicy meat. Realising Prometheus had meant to trick him, he grew angry with his cousin for trying to give the juicy portions of the ox to mere men, and as retribution, Zeus denied man the power of fire.
Denied man the power of fire. Which, of course, suggests that man had formerly had it.
Curiously, this story – known as the trick at Mecone, after the place where the sacrificial meal took place – is also the origins of the ritual of burning the bones of an animal as an offering to the gods, after a meal.
So, thanks to Prometheus’ wily ways, he’d managed to lose mankind their fiery powers.
But Prometheus, being cunning and rebellious, outwitted his cousin, and stole the flare of eternal fire from Mount Olympus in, of all things, a tube of fennel. (The notes to Theogony and Works and Days (Oxford World’s Classics) reveal that the stalk of the giant fennel contains a dry pith which burns slowly, and this makes it a handy means of carrying fire about the place.) He then took this flame to Earth, and gave it to men.
For this act he was punished by Zeus: chained to a rock and then subjected to the agonising ordeal of having his liver pecked out by an eagle. His liver would grow back every night, so Prometheus would have to endure the same fate every day for eternity.
Except …
It wasn’t for eternity. Because, as Hesiod records, Heracles saved Prometheus from further torture at the hands (or beak) of the eagle, and set him free. Prometheus was released from his punishment. And Heracles did this with the permission of Zeus, suggesting that the fearsome god had a forgiving nature … eventually.
In 1818, when the young twenty-year-old Mary Shelley was readying her debut novel for publication, she chose to subtitle it The Modern Prometheus. Her protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, is a modern-day version of the son of Iapetus, stealing fire from the gods, ‘playing God’ by creating human life in a laboratory. Mary’s husband, Percy Shelley, himself liberated Prometheus from his grisly fate – regarding him as a hero for freeing mankind from a reliance on the tyrannical gods – in his poem, Prometheus Unbound, its title a pointed negation of the Aeschylus play about the same subject, Prometheus Bound.
Image: via Wikimedia Commons.
This fun and lively rhyme for kids was written in 2014 by Paul Perro.
According to Ancient Greek Mythology, it was Prometheus who created mankind.
This poem tells the later story of how Prometheus tricked Zeus into helping his beloved humans, and also how Prometheus helped mankind's development by stealing fire from the gods for them, angering Zeus even more in the process.
We hope you enjoy it.
Story Of Prometheus And Fire
Prometheus
A poem for kids by Paul Perro
Back in Ancient Greek times there was
A strange thing called a “sacrifice.”
To keep the gods in a good mood
The humans had to pay a price.
The gods were arguing one day
What exactly should that price be?
They argued and argued for hours
But they could not agree.
“I know who we should ask for help,”
Declared the mighty Zeus,
“The one who created humans,
Bring me Prometheus.”
So Prometheus was sent for
And he came straight away.
Then Zeus asked him what he believed
Should be the price to pay.
Prometheus loved the humans,
He was their maker after all,
So he decided to trick Zeus
Into making it really small.
He showed two bags, one big, one small,
And gave Zeus the choice of the two.
Of course Zeus chose the bigger one
As Prometheus knew he’d do.
So Zeus was very disappointed
When Prometheus showed him that
The little one held all the meat,
The big one, bones and fat.
But Zeus soon realized he’d been tricked
And he was very cross.
He thought that it was time to show
Prometheus who’s boss.
“So let the humans have their meat,”
Zeus held up his fist and shook it,
“I won’t let them have fire so
They won’t be able to cook it!”
Prometheus was not impressed
At this childish display of spite,
And he decided that he would
Stand up for what was right.
He climbed a mountain, lit a torch
From the chariot of Apollo,
Then took the flame and gave it to
The humans down below.
Zeus was furious when he saw
That he had refused to obey.
He decided to punish him
In an extremely nasty way.
Prometheus, chained to a rock,
As punishment for his crime,
Heard Zeus decree this punishment
Would last until the end of time.
To make his torment even worse
Each day an eagle would attack,
And peck out his liver, but then,
Each night it would grow back.
THE END
Well, no, not quite the end in fact,
There’s a little more to report.
There’s a little more to the tale,
A happy ending, of a sort.
Prometheus was not chained up
For all eternity.
You see, one day, great Heracles,
The hero, set him free.
Prometheus Greek Myth Pdf
Prometheus