Prometheus is one of the most famous characters in classical mythology, the son of a titan,
Iapetus, and a nymph, Clymene.
He had three brothers: Menoetius, Epimetheus and the well known titan Atlas, who hold up
the sky on his shoulders.
Other traditions considered him the son of Hera with the giant Eurymedon.
Initially, he was considered the messenger of the Titans.
The legend says that the gods created the humans from dust and fire, and initially placed
them underground.
But they did not endow them with any specific quality, entrusting this task to Prometheus
and Epimetheus.
Epimetheus was a kind of negative "double" of Prometheus, and wanted to distribute alone
the qualities and abilities of all the creatures created by gods; But he divided them badly.
The animals being endowed with all the prerogatives necessary for survival, and the humans being
deprived of them.
To remedy the situation, Prometheus had to steal fire from the gods to give to the humans,
so they could have an advantage in lack of their physical abilities.
Related to the creation of man is also the legend according to which the first man was
created by Prometheus.
The first human was a being of perfect beauty, whom Prometheus kept hidden until Zeus asked
to give his creation to him.
Zeus made the first human immortal, and placed him among the stars.
Prometheus created other humans in the same way, modeling them from earth and water, and
besides them he created animals.
The events that led Prometheus to the gesture that made him famous in mythology are related
to the bad blood between him and Zeus.
The story goes like this:
A dispute arose over a slaughtered bull, of which only a part was to be offered to the
gods as sacrifice, and the rest to be left to the humans.
Prometheus was called to decide what parts of the bull belonged to the gods and what
humans could keep for themselves.
He misled Zeus, covering the animal's skin with two equal piles, one containing only
the bull's bones wrapped in a layer of tempting fat, and the other the good pieces of flesh,
hidden so that they could not be seen.
Deceived and upset, Zeus decided to take away the fire from humans.
Prometheus tried to remedy the situation, being supported in his attempt by Athena,
the goddess who had given him the knowledge of all those arts that he passed on to humans:
from astronomy to medicine, from mathematics to architecture, from the technique of navigation
to that of metalworking.
With the help of Athena, Prometheus entered Olympus, and he lit a torch from the fiery
chariot of the sun god Apollo as he passed by.
He hid the torch in the hollowed-out stem of a reed, and fled, unseen, with his gift
to humans.
But Zeus realized the theft, seeing in the distance the light of the fire shining among
the humans.
Enraged that he was tricked, he punished both the humans and the perpetrator of the theft.
He sent to the humans the source of all evil, Pandora, and he gave Prometheus a cruel punishment.
Zeus had Hephaestus chain him to the top of the Caucasus mountain.
Every day an eagle came down from the sky and ate his liver, which regenerated overnight,
making the torture endless.
The punishment was to be eternal; but at one point Zeus allowed Hercules to save Prometheus.
Hercules killed the eagle with an arrow and tore off the chains.
However, in order for Prometheus to never forget his imprisonment, Zeus forced him to
wear a bracelet made from a piece of his old chain.
This was the legend of Prometheus, our creator, and the first friend of humans.
I hope that you enjoyed this episode of Mythos, the Historian.
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