Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained.
In today’s video, we’re going to discuss Prometheus: a Titan who betrayed his own kind
and joined the gods, the champion of humanity, the wily trickster who stole fire from Zeus,
and the victim of one of the most truly diabolical punishments in all of Greek mythology: to
have his ever-regenerating liver ripped out of his belly each day and devoured by an eagle
for thousands of years.
First we’re going to explore the role Prometheus played in the creation of humanity, going
through various versions from multiple works; following that, we’re going to go through
the escalating back and forth between Prometheus and Zeus, an exchange that results in a livid
Zeus condemning his plucky, intrepid adversary to one of the worse punishments in all of
Greek mythology; and finally, we’re going to wrap up the video by looking at the story
of Deucalion, Prometheus’ son - specifically, at how he builds a boat to survive a world-consuming
flood unleashed by Zeus to eradicate humanity.
Let’s get into it.
Prometheus was the son of Iapetus, one of the 12 first-generation titans, and of Clymene,
one of the Oceanid nymphs.
Born to them were four sons: Atlas, strong and unyielding, condemned to an eternity of
bearing the heavens on his shoulders, Menoetius, an obscure figure, smote by Zeus’ lightning
and thereby sent smoking down to Tartarus, Prometheus, wise and cunning, an ardent champion
of humanity, and Epimetheus, dull and naïve, whose susceptibility to temptation helped
bring unspeakable suffering into the world.
(An alternative genealogy claims that Iapetus’ consort, the mother of these four second-generation
titans, was Asia, another of the Oceanid nymphs descended from first-generation Titans Oceanus
and Tethys.)
The anthropogony, the genesis of humanity, in Greek mythology is an essential event - after
all, where we come from is one of the core questions mythology and religion endeavour
to answer - for which the details seem to have changed over the centuries.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, one of the oldest surviving works from ancient Greece, five
iterations of people are described: gold, silver, bronze, heroic, and Iron.
The golden race, created by the Titans, was the first.
They wanted for nothing; the world was peaceful and pleasurable, and when they died it was
painless, like falling into a deep sleep.
Next Zeus and the gods made the silver race, by comparison to their predecessors weak,
foolish, and sinful.
They wouldn’t honour the gods, so Zeus retired them and created the bronze race, but neither
were they suitable inheritors of the earth.
Yes, they were strong, but their strength wasn’t tempered by wisdom; for they were
brutal and loved violence.
Again, their time was put to an end.
The fourth age, called the heroic age, was a time of demi-gods, when the heroes of old
roamed the land and performed deeds of great renown.
Finally, the fifth crop, the people from whom we today would be distant kin, were created
by Zeus, ushering in the fifth age, called the iron age.
As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, Prometheus has yet to be mentioned in connection to the
creation of humanity.
This is because the versions that include him - at least, the ones that have survived
through to today - weren’t written until hundreds of years after Hesiod's Theogony,
a work released sometime in the last third of the eighth century BCE.
Here’s a passage from Plato’s Protagoras, written around the fourth century BCE, that
describes Prometheus, meaning ‘foresight’ or ‘forethought’, and Epimetheus, meaning
‘hindsight’ or ‘afterthought’, not creating humanity, but apportioning attributes
that allow humans and animals to survive:
“Once upon a time there were gods only, and no mortal creatures.
But when the time came that these also should be created, the gods fashioned them out of
earth and fire and various mixtures of both elements in the interior of the earth; and
when they were about to bring them into the light of day, they ordered Prometheus and
Epimetheus to equip them, and to distribute to them severally their proper qualities.
Epimetheus said to Prometheus : ‘Let me distribute, and you inspect.’
This was agreed, and Epimetheus made the distribution [of claws and fur and other attributes] . . . Thus
did Epimetheus, who, not being very wise, forgot that he had distributed among the brute
animals all the qualities which he had to give-and when he came to man, who was still
unprovided, he was terribly perplexed.
Now while he was in this perplexity, Prometheus came to inspect the distribution, and he found
that the other animals were suitably furnished, but that man alone was naked and shoeless,
and had neither bed nor arms of defence.
The appointed hour was approaching when man in his turn was to go forth into the light
of day; and Prometheus, not knowing how he could devise his salvation, stole the mechanical
arts of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) and Athene (Athena), and fire with them.”
Later, when Roman dominance had eclipsed ancient Greece, subsuming its territory into the empire,
Ovid, a Roman poet who lived from 43 BCE to 17 CE, wrote Metamorphoses, his magnum opus.
Though he is known for thinking the myths of the ancient Greeks were nothing more than
silly stories invented by people of a bygone time, and though he’s notorious for taking
artistic liberties, particularly through embellishment, Metamorphoses remains the most comprehensive
collection of Greek myths compiled in a single work.
And in Ovid’s telling, it is Prometheus who creates humanity.
Here’s the passage:
“Earth that Prometheus moulded, mixed with water,
In likeness of the gods that govern the world -
And while the other creatures on all fours Look downwards, man was made to hold his head
Erect in majesty and see the sky, And raise his eyes to the bright stars above.
Thus earth, once crude and featureless, now changed
Put on the unknown form of humankind.”
Of Prometheus’ story following his betrayal of the Titans and following the creation of
humanity, the events that follow - basically, him tricking Zeus until Zeus gets angry, chains
him to a rock, and subjects him to unending torture in the form a blood-thirsty bird descending
on him and devouring his liver each day - are recounted in Hesiod’s Theogony, Which we’ll
now get into.
When the matter of sacrifice was being settled between gods and men, meaning how the parts
of animals would be divided between divine and mortal, Prometheus, ever the champion
of humanity, interceded on humanity’s behalf, bending all his cunning towards winning a
favourable covenant for the people he so stalwartly supported.
A great ox was killed and carved, and every part that constituted it was separated into
two piles.
One pile, the better of the two, contained the meat, but it was dressed up, covered by
the stomach, so that the meat underneath couldn’t be seen, making it appear unappetizing.
The other pile, the worst of the two, contained the bones, but they were dressed up in glistening
fat, making it appear the choice portion.
When Zeus made his selection, he opted for the bones, disguised as they were, and henceforth,
humanity enjoyed meat and bones were burnt in sacrifice.
This ruse infuriated Zeus, who retaliated by withholding fire from humanity, forcing
dark and cold upon them, prompting Prometheus to once again don the hero's mantle.
He stole fire, transported it in a tube of fennel, and delivered it to the world.
Thwarted again, Zeus was left livid, a fell mood fell upon him, one that would make his
previous machinations seem mere trifles compared to the diabolicalness he had in store.
Here, Zeus’ retaliation was twofold: one part concocted to afflict humanity, the other
a personal torture for Prometheus.
He enlisted Hephaestus, the divine craftsman, instructing him to harness all of his skill
and subtlety towards creating a trap for humanity, insidious and perilous.
The smith-god mixed earth and water to create a beautiful woman, the first woman, modelling
his creation after the immortal goddesses.
Athena was brought in to teach feminine crafts like weaving and embroidery, and Aphrodite
to imbue qualities so as to make men desire her.
And all the other gods imparted gifts, too, which is why the name Pandora, which translates
to ‘Allgift’, was chosen.
Hitherto, people had lived free of suffering and hardship, but soon a harsh new reality
was to set in.
Despite Prometheus’ warning, which was to never accept any gift given by Zeus, Epimetheus
was unable to heed his brother’s advice; for he was utterly taken by the sight of Pandora
- all those godly gifts woven into one woman irresistible to him.
Pandora unstopped the jar, the jar in which all the pain and woe of the universe was contained.
Only hope, by the providence of Zeus, remained in the jar when Pandora put the lid back on.
The other half of Zeus’ machination was the personal hell Prometheus was about to
be dropped into.
He was impaled on a shaft and chained to a rock by unbreakable bonds.
Each day, a great eagle descended upon Prometheus, eviscerated him by clawing gouges with razor-sharp
talons and tearing strips with a cruel beak, and devoured his liver; However, the truly
diabolical aspect of this punishment is that it wasn’t an execution; rather, it was perpetual
torture, for each night Prometheus’ immortal liver would regenerate so that each day he
would be disemboweled and have his liver eaten again, and again, and again.
Eventually, after an interminable time of isolation and anguish, 30,000 years, Prometheus
is finally freed.
First, Hercules kills the eagle that rips out Prometheus’ liver each day in the course
of one of his labours, and though this kindness was given without his father’s consent,
it was indeed a part of Zeus’ design.
And this makes sense because Zeus later ends Prometheus’ incarceration as a reward for
his sage advice, which was to cease pursuing Thetis, for it was prophesied that, sired
by him, she would bear incredibly powerful children, more so even than their father.
Interestingly, this wouldn’t be the only time Prometheus would come to Zeus’ aid
in a matter involving incredibly powerful children.
Zeus also learnt of a prophecy whereby any children he sired by Metis would be incredibly
powerful, first a daughter, wise and strong, then a son with the power to supplant him.
Zeus swallowed Metis to forestall any such eventuality, but she was already pregnant
when he committed to this preemptive path.
Months later, an excruciating headache racked Zeus.
Prometheus delivered him from pain by splitting his skull with an axe, and out sprung Athena,
fully-grown, donning armour, wielding a weapon.
Another important myth in which Prometheus plays a part is that of Deucalion and Pyrrha.
(Perhaps the best known version of their story is told by Ovid in Metamorphoses.)
It centres on Deucalion the son of Prometheus, and on Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus
and Pandora.
The state of humanity had become so wicked and depraved that Zeus judged it to be utterly
beyond redemption or salvation.
The only course, he judged, was to expunge humanity, to scour them from the face of the
earth and begin anew.
His weapon of choice was all the water of the world, which he planned to raise so that
all the earth was swallowed and every person drowned.
Prometheus got word to his son, and advised Deucalion to build a stout boat and wait out
the impending storm set to cover the continents and exterminate life as he knew it.
With this forewarning, Deucalion and Pyrrha do as instructed and survive the flood.
Zeus is eventually moved by the sight of the forlorn couple, seemingly abandoned by the
gods and severed from everyone they once knew.
The waters recede and the couple take shelter in a mountain cave.
Several events ensue, leading to the regeneration of the human race by Deucalion and Pyrrha
throwing rocks over their shoulders that turn into people when they hit the ground.
And that’s it for this video!
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