Which image refers to the myth of Prometheus. Greek mythology. Prometheus
Myths and Legends * PrometheusPrometheus
Wikipedia
Prometheus(ancient Greek Προμηθεύς, also Prometheus) - in ancient Greek mythology, a titan, a protector of people from the arbitrariness of the gods. The son of Iapetus and Clymene (according to Apollodorus - Asia, according to Aeschylus - the son of Themis-Gaia, according to Euphorion - the son of Hera and the titan Eurymedon). His wife Hesiona.
The name of the titan "Prometheus" means "thinking before", "foreseeing" (as opposed to the name of his brother Epimetheus, "thinking after") and is derived from the Indo-European root me-dh-, men-dh-, "to reflect", "to know" .
Creation of people
According to Hesiod, Prometheus fashioned people from the earth, and Athena endowed them with breath;
Prometheus and the first man
(after the model of Simon Louis Buano) Pietro Stagegi,
1783-1793, Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia
in a more detailed version, set forth by Propertius, he fashioned people from clay, mixing earth with water (Hesiod does not have this); or he revived the people created by Deucalion and Pyrrha from stones. Near Panopia (Phocis) in ancient times there was a statue of Prometheus, and next to it were two large stones left from the clay from which people were fashioned. Fraser visited this valley and saw reddish earth at its bottom.
When the gods and men bickered at Mekon, Prometheus deceived Zeus by offering him a choice, and he chose a larger but worse part of the victim. So Prometheus changed the order of sacrifices to the gods, previously the whole animal was burned, and now only the bones. Prometheus killed the bull first. People set to burn the liver of sacrificial animals on the altars, so that the gods would enjoy their liver instead of Prometheus.
Fire theft
Prometheus. Stealing Fire (Jan Cossiers)
According to the oldest version of the myth, Prometheus stole fire from Olympus and gave it to people. He ascended to heaven with the help of Athena and raised the torch to the sun. He gave people fire, hiding it in a hollow reed stalk (narfex) and showed people how to keep it, sprinkling it with ashes. This reed has an interior filled with white pulp that can burn like a wick.
Prometheus' Punishment
For the theft of fire, Zeus ordered Hephaestus (or Hermes) to nail Prometheus to the Caucasus Range.
According to Durid, he was punished for falling in love with Athena. Some writers attributed the action of the myth to a cave in the area of paropamisads.
Prometheus was chained to a rock and doomed to incessant torment: an eagle that flew every day (or every third day) pecked at Prometheus's liver, which grew again.
Hephaestus and Prometheus (Dirck van Baburen)
These torments, according to various ancient sources, lasted from several centuries to 30 thousand years (according to Aeschylus), until Hercules killed an eagle with an arrow and freed Prometheus. According to Empedocles, a demon who has defiled himself wanders away from the blessed for 30 thousand years.
Prometheus showed Hercules the way to the Hesperides. In gratitude, Hercules killed the eagle with an arrow from a bow and persuaded Zeus to calm his anger. When Zeus freed Prometheus, he bound one of his fingers with a stone from a rock and iron, since then people have been wearing rings. There is a story about how Prometheus tried to bribe Charon, but to no avail.
His altar at the Academy of Athens. Cult of Prometheus at Colon. The graves of Prometheus were shown in Argos and Opunt (although Phoroneus was considered the inventor of fire in Argos). According to some, he became the constellation of the Kneeling.
In literature and art
In the tragedy of Aeschylus "Prometheus Chained", the image of Prometheus as the discoverer of all the cultural benefits that made possible the achievements of human civilization was added to the motif of the theft of fire: Prometheus taught people to build dwellings and mine metals, cultivate the land and sail on ships, taught them to write, count, observe stars, etc. Executed for the love of people, Prometheus Aeschylus throws a bold challenge to Zeus and is ready, despite the terrible torment, to defend his innocence.
The protagonist of the tragedies of Aeschylus "Chained Prometheus", "Prometheus Unchained" and "Prometheus the Fire-bearer", the satyr drama "Prometheus the Fire-igniter", the play by an unknown author "Prometheus", the comedy of Aristophanes "Birds", the tragedy Action "Prometheus", the comedy of Antiphanes " The Creation of Man (Anthropogony)." Mentioned in the tragedy of Sophocles "Colchian Women" (fr. 340 Radt).
* See Plato. Protagoras 321d (interpretation of the myth).
The humanistic features of the image of the rebel-martyr Prometheus were developed in poetry (, P. B. Shelley, N. P. Ogaryov (Prometheus), T. Shevchenko, John Updike, Gauthier (Prometheus, and others), as well as in music (F. Liszt, A. N. Scriabin and others) and fine arts (Titian, F. G. Gordeev and others).
Robert Anton Wilson created the image of Prometheus Risen in the book of the same name, as a symbol of the most fundamental and radical liberation.
In the works of Calderon, Goethe, Beethoven, the late antique version of the myth about Prometheus, the creator of the first people, fashioned by him from the earth and endowed with consciousness, was reflected.
The name of the spaceship "Prometheus" in the film of the same name by Ridley Scott (premiere May 30, 2012).
* Losev A.F. The problem of the symbol and realistic art. M., 1976. Ch.7 (pp. 226-297) - a detailed examination of the image of Prometheus in world literature
* In New York, at the Rockefeller Center, there is a statue of Prometheus. The statue itself is made of bronze, and its surface is covered with gilding.
Prometheus. At the Rockefeller Center
Prometheus- the most sublime and tragic image in Greek mythology, a hero who voluntarily went to torment in the name of his convictions, a symbol of the indestructible and all-conquering strength of the spirit. His name means "Seer".
Prometheus was the son of the titan Iapetus and the goddess of justice Themis. When the war of the gods and titans began, Prometheus, on the advice of his grandmother, Gaia, the goddess of the earth, sided with the gods, and the gods won largely thanks to the wisdom of Prometheus.
Prometheus helps Zeus fight the Titans
Zeus the Thunderer reigned on Olympus, and Prometheus became his adviser.
Zeus instructed Prometheus to create humans.
(There is an assumption that initially Prometheus was the supreme deity before the Greek tribes that inhabited the territory of Greece in ancient times. Subsequently, the Greeks included Prometheus in the system of their mythology, retaining the role of the creator of mankind for him. Before the Greek origin of Prometheus, his further opposition to Zeus, a purely Greek deity.)
Prometheus and Athena create people
Prometheus kneaded the clay and set to work. As an assistant, he took his brother Epimetheus. According to the plan of Prometheus, people were supposed to turn out to be perfect creatures, but the stupid Epimetheus (his name means “thinking after”) ruined everything.
According to one version, Epimetheus first of all sculpted animals from clay, endowing them with various means of protection from enemies: some with sharp teeth and claws, others with quick feet, and others with a subtle instinct, but forgot to leave something to the lot of a person. Therefore, people are naturally weak and ill-adapted to life.
Prometheus and Epimetheus
In another version of the myth, Epimetheus generally exterminated all the clay on animals, and Prometheus had to create humanity by pinching off pieces from different animals. Therefore, people have donkey stubbornness, fox cunning, hare cowardice, and the like in the most unexpected combinations. 
Prometheus taught people to cultivate the land and grow bread, build houses and make things useful in the household, read and write, distinguish between the seasons and treat diseases.
But the people created by Prometheus did not worship the Olympian gods, and Zeus, dissatisfied with this, decided to destroy them. Prometheus went to Zeus and delivered a lengthy speech in defense of mankind (in memory of this, the Greeks revere him as the creator of oratory). He promised to teach people to worship the gods and make sacrifices to them.
Prometheus slaughtered the sacrificial bull in advance and divided it into two parts: he covered the meat with a skin, and hid the bare bones under a layer of fat.
On the appointed day, the gods descended to earth and met with people in a large clearing. Prometheus invited Zeus to choose any part of the bull for sacrifice to the gods. Zeus chose the one that seemed fatter to him, and since then people began to sacrifice fat and bones to the gods, and ate the meat themselves.
Zeus, seeing that he was taken, became angry and in retaliation took away the fire from people. Cold and hunger reigned on the earth.
Prometheus felt himself the unwitting culprit of the disaster that befell the mankind he had created, and swore by the waters of the Styx, a river in the underworld of the dead, that he would get for people an unquenchable heavenly fire burning in the hearth of Zeus himself.
He turned to Athena, asking permission to visit the home of Zeus, allegedly in order to admire the amazing servants that the blacksmith god Hephaestus forged from gold for the Thunderer. Athena secretly led Prometheus to her father's house. Passing by the hearth, Prometheus put a reed stalk into the fire. Its core caught fire, and Prometheus in a hollow stem brought divine fire to the earth. 
Upon learning of this, Zeus became more angry than ever and came up with a new punishment for people. He ordered Hephaestus to make a girl out of earth and water. Aphrodite endowed her with beauty and charm, Athena made her skillful in needlework, the god of cunning and deceit Hermes taught her to speak flattering speeches. The girl was called, that is, "gifted with all the gods."
Zeus sent her to Prometheus. However, he, not trusting Zeus, refused to accept the beauty. But his brother Epimetheus fell in love with Pandora at first sight and married her.
Zeus gave Pandora a tightly closed box as a dowry, without saying what was in it. Curious Pandora, having barely entered her husband's house, opened the lid, and human vices, illnesses and misfortunes scattered from the box all over the world. Epimetheus and Pandora had a daughter, Pyrrha, who eventually married the son of Prometheus Deucalion.
Zeus again began to think about how to exterminate humanity - and sent a flood to the earth. But the seer Prometheus warned his son about this, Deucalion built a ship and escaped with his wife.
When the waters of the flood subsided, Deucalion and Pyrrha found themselves alone on the desert land. The ship took them to the temple of Themis, the mother of Prometheus. Themis appeared to Deucalion and Pyrrha, ordered them to pick up stones and throw them behind their backs. These stones turned into people: thrown by Deucalion into men, thrown by Pyrrha into women. Thus the human race was reborn.
Deucalion and Pyrrha (Andrea_di_Mariotto)
Later, Deucalion and Pyrrha had a son, Hellen, the founder of the Hellenic tribe, who founded Hellas, that is, Greece.
Zeus, seeing that he could not succeed in exterminating the human race, brought down his anger on Prometheus.
He called on his faithful servants Kratos and Biya - Power and Strength, ordered them to take Prometheus to the very end of the world, to wild Scythia, and there the blacksmith god Hephaestus chained him to a rock. Hephaestus was a friend of Prometheus, but did not dare to disobey Zeus.
Prometheus 
In the tragedy of the Greek poet of the 5th century BC. e. Aeschylus "Prometheus Chained" Hephaestus addresses Prometheus:
The super-wise son of Themis is right-minded,
For evil to you, for evil to yourself with glands
I will chain you to the desert cliff. (…)
Here is the reward of humanity!
God himself, heavy gods despising anger,
You were sympathetic to people beyond measure.
For this, stand the rocks as a sad watchman. (…)
You will scream and complain to the wind
Throw without counting: Zeus knows no pity.
(Translation edited by S. Apt)
Zeus condemned Prometheus to eternal fetters, but Prometheus knew that the power of Zeus himself was not eternal. Moira, the goddess of fate, revealed to Prometheus that from marriage with the nymph Thetis, Zeus would have a son who would be stronger than his father and overthrow him from the throne.
The Moirai also told that Zeus could avoid such a fate if Thetis married a mortal man. Then the son born by her will become the greatest hero, but will not compete with Zeus.
Prometheus 
Years and centuries passed. The immortal titan Prometheus languished, chained to a rock. He was tormented by heat and cold, tormented by hunger and thirst.
Zeus found out that Prometheus possessed the secret of his own destiny, and sent his son, the herald of the gods Hermes, to him to offer release in exchange for this secret.
But Prometheus demanded that Zeus recognize the injustice of the punishment he had imposed and release him without any conditions. Prometheus said to Hermes:
“There is no execution, know that there is no trick so that Zeus will
Forced the fatal secret to blurt out,
While I am bound with shameful chains.
So let the flaming lightning throw,
It thunders with underground thunder, the vault of the sky circles,
Let it destroy everything with a white-winged blizzard, -
Can't bend me!
I won't tell him
Whose hands will wrest dominion from him!”
Wanting to break Prometheus, Zeus subjected him to new torments: he plunged the immortal titan into Tartra, into impenetrable darkness, where the souls of the dead roam, and then again raised him to the surface of the earth, chained him to a rock in the mountains of the Caucasus and sent his sacred eagle bird to torment Prometheus. With its claws and beak, the terrible bird tore apart the belly of the titan and pecked at his liver. The next day, the wound healed, and the eagle flew again.
The groans of Prometheus carried the echo far, they were echoed by mountains and seas, rivers and valleys.
The oceanid nymphs wept with pity for Prometheus, begged him to humble himself, to reveal the secret to Zeus and thereby ease their torment. The same was asked of Prometheus by his titan brothers and mother goddess Themis. But he answered them all that he would reveal the secret only if Zeus admits that he punished him innocently and restore justice.
And Zeus gave up.
Prometheus and Hercules (Christian Griepenkerl (1839-1912)
He sent his son Heracles to the mountains of the Caucasus. Hercules killed the eagle and broke the chains of Prometheus with his club. Prometheus kept one link of the chain with a fragment of a stone as a keepsake, and since then, people, in order not to forget about the suffering that Prometheus endured for the human race, began to wear rings with stones.
The liberated Prometheus revealed the secret to Zeus, and he, heeding the warning of the moira, gave the nymph Thetis in marriage to King Peleus. Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, was born from this marriage.
Prometheus is the only character in Greek mythology who openly opposes Zeus and ultimately wins a moral victory over him.
In various versions of the myth, told by different Greek authors, the image of Prometheus changed. The poet of the VIII century BC. e. Hesiod Prometheus, first of all, is a cunning one, deftly deceiving Zeus. Later, in the tragedy of Aeschylus, Prometheus is a hero endowed with great moral strength and drawing courage in the consciousness of his rightness.
The myth of Prometheus was addressed by poets and thinkers of different times and peoples: Voltaire, Goethe, Byron and Shelley. V.G. Belinsky wrote: “Prometheus (...), chained to a mountain (...) and with proud contempt responding to the reproaches of Zeus, is a purely Greek form, but the idea of \u200b\u200bthe unshakable human will and energy of the soul, proud and in suffering, which is expressed in this form, is understandable and now".
PROMETHEUS
Titanium! To our earthly lot,
To our mournful vale,
For human pain
You looked without contempt;
But what was the reward?
Suffering, tension
Yes kite, that without end
Torments the liver of the proud,
Rock, chains a sad sound,
The suffocating burden of torment
Yes, the groan that is buried in the heart,
You suppressed, calmed down,
So that about your sorrows
He couldn't tell the gods.
Titanium! Did you know what the fight means
Courage with flour ... you are strong,
You are not afraid of torture
But bound by a violent fate.
Almighty Rock is a deaf tyrant,
Obsessed with universal malice,
Creating for the joy of heaven
That which can destroy itself
Delivered you from death
Gifted immortality.
You accepted the bitter gift as an honor
And the Thunderer from you
I was able to achieve only a threat;
So the proud god was punished!
Loving your suffering
You didn't want to read to him
His fate is but a sentence
Opened your proud eyes to him.
And he comprehended your silence,
And lightning bolts trembled...
You are good - that is your heavenly sin
Ile crime: you wanted
Put an end to misfortune
So that the mind makes everyone happy!
Rock destroyed your dreams
But in the fact that you did not reconcile, -
An example for all human hearts;
What was your freedom
Greatness is hidden pattern
For the human race!
You are a symbol of strength, demigod,
You have lit the way for mortals, -
Human life is a light current,
Runner, sweeping the path,
Partly a person can
Your watch to anticipate running:
aimless existence,
Resistance, vegetative...
But the soul will not change
Breathing immortal firmness,
And the feeling that he can suddenly
In the depths of the most bitter torments
Get yourself a reward
Celebrate and despise
And turn death into victory.
George Byron
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a titan who is credited with creating man from clay. This king of the Scythians, known for his intelligence, defied the gods and stole the fire for mankind, which allowed people to develop civilization.
In ancient times, it was believed that the name "Prometheus" means "thinking before", i.e. endowed with the gift of foresight, with great foresight. Plato (Plato) contrasts this name with Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus, whose name translates as "thinking after." However, modern linguists saw the Proto-Indo-European root in the word "Prometheus", and translated it as "thief of fire."
The myth of Prometheus first appeared at the end of the 8th century BC. in Theogony by Hesiod. Prometheus was the son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene, one of the Oceanids. He was the brother of Menoetius, Atlas, and Epimetheus.
When mortals and immortals were arguing with each other at Mecone, Prometheus decided to play a trick on Zeus. Prometheus placed two sacrifices before Olympus: beef hidden inside a bull's stomach (edible in an unpleasant form) and simple bull bones wrapped in "gleaming fat" (inedible in a beautiful package). Zeus chose the latter, setting a precedent for future victims. Previously, people had to burn the animal completely, and after that it was enough just to burn the bones, and save the meat for themselves.
An angry Zeus hid the fire from people, but Prometheus stole it from Olympus - and returned it in a hollow fennel stalk, in fact, like a torch. He also taught people to save fire. Then the supreme deity went berserk - and sent to earth Pandora (Pandora), the first woman who began to live with humanity. She became the wife of Epimetheus and opened the pithos (chan), because of which untold troubles fell upon people.
Prometheus received eternal punishment for stealing fire. He was chained by Hephaestus to a rock in the Caucasus, Mount Kazbek (Kazbek Mountain, Caucasus), and his liver was pecked out daily by an eagle. During the night, the liver was restored - due to the immortality of titanium. Years later (and according to Aeschylus / Aeschylus, as much as 30 thousand years), the Greek hero Hercules / Hercules (Heracles / Hercules) killed the eagle with an arrow and freed Prometheus from the shackles.
As it turns out, the salvation of the titan was accomplished with the permission of Zeus, whom Hercules persuaded to calm his anger and have mercy. Zeus nevertheless forged one finger of Prometheus with stone and iron, and from that moment people began to wear rings. There is also a version that Prometheus wanted to bribe the carrier of the souls of Charon, but nothing came of it.
In the tragedy of Aeschylus "Prometheus Bound" ("Prometheus Bound"), before stealing the fire, Prometheus played a decisive role in the battles between the immortals (Titanomachy) even before the advent of mankind, ensuring the victory of Zeus and other gods of Olympus. Therefore, the torture of Prometheus looks like an even more cruel betrayal on the part of Zeus. In addition to fire, the titan taught mortals writing, mathematics, agriculture, medicine, science, shipbuilding, and many others. The greatest boon for him was the opportunity to save people from complete annihilation.
About twenty other Greek and Roman authors retold and continued the myth of Prometheus in the 4th century AD. The most significant details were added by Sappho, Plato, Ovid, and Aesop, attributing to Prometheus a central role in the creation of the human race. According to one version, the King of the Scythians created a man from clay by mixing water with earth. Another story says that Prometheus is responsible for reviving humans, specifically the fourth generation created by Deucalion and Pyrrhus from stones.
For the Romantic era, Prometheus was a rebel who rebelled against all forms of institutional movement and the tyranny of Zeus - the church, monarchism and patriarchal society. Romantics drew parallels between the titan and the spirit of the French Revolution, Christ (Christ), the image of Satan in "Lost Paradise" ("Paradise Lost") by John Milton (John Milton), etc.
In scientific circles, the theme of invention and discovery in the myth of Prometheus has been used as a metaphor for scientific progress. A cloned horse named Prometheus, a moon of Saturn, and the asteroid 1809 Prometheus were all named after the titan. The chemical element promethium, atomic number 61, is also named after Prometheus.
Finally, the scientific and medical literature on the subject of liver regeneration often alludes to Prometheus and how his liver, devoured by a bird, grew back daily. Some think the myth indicates that the ancient Greeks were aware of the remarkable ability of the liver to regenerate itself. The Greek word for "liver" (hēpar or hepat) is a derivative form of the verb "hēpaomai", meaning "to recover", "to recover".
The legend of Prometheus is probably one of the saddest and most beautiful tales that mankind has created in the short period of its existence. She was born in Ancient Greece, a country that gave our civilization a huge cultural impetus and laid the foundations of modern democracy.
A separate layer is the myths created in Hellas millennia ago. They are so firmly entrenched in modern history and everyday life that many do not even know and do not understand the meaning of everyday things and rituals, considering them to be something natural and recently born. But even a simple ring with a stone is a symbol and came to us from those ancient times. And it is connected with Prometheus. Most, of course, have heard of him, but they are unlikely to be able to plainly say what Prometheus brought to people, except for fire, and what else this mythical titan is famous for. But Prometheus gave humanity not only a life-giving flame...
background
There are many legends about Prometheus, and each has the right to exist. Let's try to combine them into one.
Once upon a time, the world was inhabited by two types of fabulous creatures - titans and gods. They coexisted more or less peacefully, quarreled over trifles, but things did not go beyond this. But one day everything changed, and a real war broke out between the gods and the titans. The winners were the gods, led by the Thunderer Zeus. The stern lord of lightning cast the defeated into the gloomy depths of the Earth, imprisoning them forever behind copper doors and entrusting the protection of the hekatoncheirs - monstrous hundred-armed and fifty-headed creatures.
However, not all titans fought against the gods. There were those who, on the contrary, supported Zeus and his associates. Among them was Prometheus, the son of the titan Iapetus. Zeus did not forget his services and allowed Prometheus to live freely on Olympus among the gods.
Creation of the gods
The ancient Greeks have several versions of the origin of the human tribe. One of them claims that this event happened thanks to Prometheus. That he molded the first man from raw clay in the image and likeness of the Olympian celestials. Athena, the daughter of Zeus, helped him in this, breathing a soul into the revived figure. As a result, the titan became the creator, as it were, the father of the human race. This explains his such ardent love for people.
Father care for his children
The first people were weak and defenseless. They didn't know anything and didn't know anything. The man lived as in a dream. He did not distinguish between day and night, the singing of birds and the sound of the wind did not tell him anything. However, Prometheus did not leave his children. He patiently taught them all kinds of crafts, gave them knowledge about the world around them, told them what friendship and love are. And since the spark of God was laid in them, these primitive creatures gradually became real people.
interest from the gods
The bold experiment of an eccentric titan interested the inhabitants of Olympus. To begin with, they took the human race under protection, but in return they demanded worship and sacrifices on the altars erected in their honor. But even this seemed not enough to the arrogant celestials. They decided to hold a general council in order to figure out how else to load mere mortals.
Prometheus believed that people already honored the gods enough, and therefore decided not only to attend this meeting, but also to do everything possible to help his children.
The bull that became famous
The main issue was sacrifice. The gods wanted to be given the best part of the sacrificial animal. Naturally, for people who did not live too well, this was not the best option. Therefore, Prometheus decided to go to the trick. He brought a bull, killed it and divided it into two unequal parts. For the most part, he folded the bones, tendons, and masked it all with fat. The best pieces of meat, edible entrails, went to the smaller part, and the skin and parts of the bull, completely unsuitable for food, were thrown over the top. Zeus noticed the trick, but still chose a large pile. He did this on purpose to justify his subsequent punishment of the son of Iapetus, whom he always disliked.
fire and life
For the deception of the gods, the leader of the Olympians punished not Prometheus, but the human race, without giving him fire - he reasoned that it would be much more painful for the feelings of the proud titan. And he was right. Prometheus treated people like his children, and worried about them almost more than they themselves. Moreover, he understood that, without receiving fire, people would very quickly return to the wild state from which he brought them with such difficulty.
And then Prometheus went to an unheard of audacity. He dared to disobey the ruler of all life on Earth. The rebellious titan stole the fire to give it to the people. Having come to Olympus in the simple clothes of a traveler, he approached the divine fire. Leaning on an ordinary wooden staff, Prometheus looked at the playing flame for a long time and thoughtfully. And when they stopped paying attention to him, he quickly and carefully put smoldering coals inside the staff, which turned out to be hollow. Imperceptibly descending to the ground, the titan swept like a whirlwind through the places where people lived, and distributed coals everywhere. And the dark night was lit up with bright sparks of domestic hearths and cheerful flashes of shepherd's fires. And people brought thanksgiving sacrifices to their father and patron Prometheus, who saved them from savagery and extinction.
Wrath of the gods
Terrible was the anger of the ferocious Zeus when he saw from Olympus how the night Earth sparkled cheerfully with thousands of small lights. He didn't have to ask who gave people fire. He knew it as well. The vindictive god decided to take revenge on both Prometheus and people.
Pandora
Silly beauty Pandora opened a terrible box, which was later named after her. Once, wanting to make the life of his human children as easy as possible, Prometheus drove into him all illnesses and sorrows, all troubles and hardships so that people could live happily ever after. He gave this vessel to his brother Epithemeus for safekeeping. It was to him that the insidious Zeus sent the sun-faced Pandora, who became the wife of Epithemeus. Having opened this receptacle of evil, the narrow-minded and curious "Miss Hellas" unleashed all the muck that lurked there. Since then, people are doomed to eternal suffering and misfortune.
Revenge of Zeus
But for Prometheus, Zeus came up with even more terrible torments. The ruthless servants of the king of the gods Power and Strength seized the courageous titan. By order of Zeus, they took him to the most deserted and wild part of the Earth - to the Caucasus Mountains. Among the gloomy mountains they chose a lonely rock, at the foot of which the gray sea beat in impotent fury. The best friend of Prometheus, the famous master and magician of blacksmithing, the lame Hephaestus, the unloved son of Zeus and the beautiful Hera, chained the titan with an indestructible chain to the very top of the rock. Crying with grief and compassion for his faithful friend, but not daring to disobey the formidable father, the blacksmith drove a diamond wedge into Prometheus's chest, nailing the rebellious rebel to a stone cliff for all time.
Prophecy
But nothing could break the courage and pride of the fearless titan. Every day he sent curses to the ruler of Olympus, showing everyone that his spirit was not broken. And once he exclaimed: “Your kingdom is not eternal, arrogant lord! The time will come when your power will end. I see your end and I know how to avoid it. But you will never know this secret!”
Like any dictator, Zeus dreamed of living and ruling forever. Therefore, having heard the prophecy of the defeated titan, he was frightened and decided by any means to find out from him the most important secret of his life. He sent the god of cunning and deceit, the crafty Hermes, to Prometheus, so that he would extort this secret from him by deceit. But the chained titan only laughed at the pitiful attempts of the god of lies and meanness: “I will never be your master’s slave, no torment will break me and force me to tell you the truth!”
The humiliated Hermes cried out in a rage: “Then I will tell you what awaits you! Soon, very soon you will find yourself in the darkest stone abyss where you will spend centuries. And when you lose track of time, you will see the light again, but believe me, you will want to go back to the abyss. Because every day a huge eagle will fly to you and torment your liver! And then you yourself will beg for mercy! But in response, the insidious god heard only contemptuous laughter.
Unbroken in spirit
Everything happened, as predicted by Hermes. One terrible night, an unprecedented storm began. The sea roared like a frenzied Nemean lion, and the sky was constantly lashed with lightning. And the mighty rock, to which the rebellious titan was chained, could not stand it. She broke and collapsed into the seething sea, leaving through it into the black abyss.
Note.Nemean Lion - a monster killed by Hercules (1st feat of 12).
No one can say how much time has passed, maybe 10 centuries, or maybe 100. But the hour came when Zeus, who did not forget anything, lifted the rock from the abyss and put it back on the ground. On the same day, a giant eagle flew in and began to peck at the liver of the fearless martyr. Satisfied, the vile bird flew over the horizon, only to reappear tomorrow. Prometheus was immortal, like all god-like creatures, so the liver was restored overnight and the eagle had a hearty meal all the time. Day after day, year after year, century after century, this torture lasted. But not a single groan was heard by the seagulls flying by, not a single cry of pain reached the sensitive ears of Zeus.
Not afraid of the gods
Everything ends sometime. The torments of Prometheus also came to an end. The legendary hero of Hellas, the mighty Hercules, during one of his countless journeys, accidentally ended up in those deserted places. Prometheus had been waiting for him for a long time, as he had the gift of foresight and knew that sooner or later a hero would appear and save him. He called Hercules, and the hero, coming closer, was horrified, looking at the tormented titan, about whom he had heard only good things. The mighty Hercules did not hesitate for a minute. He was not afraid of either the wrath of Zeus, or the giant eagle, which was already approaching the rock. Throwing up his huge bow, the hero shot an arrow and killed the bloodthirsty bird on the spot. And then, with one blow of his powerful club, he broke the magic chains that bound the titan. So finally Prometheus found freedom. And only after that he told the rushing Hermes that he was waiting for Zeus. Well, that's another story.
The myth of Prometheus tells us the sad story of a titan who protects people and is punished by gods who are indifferent to the suffering of mortals. It is Prometheus who is credited with the creation of the human race in the mythology of ancient Greece. Having created people from the earth, he turned to Athena, who breathed life into them. Prometheus made his creatures, looking at the sky, like gods.
Every day Prometheus looked at the earth, joyfully watching how the number of people increased day by day. Soon they could be seen everywhere bustling about like ants. Prometheus people lived well, even too well. They knew no worries, they were not afraid of anything. Their life was prosperous, and death was easy. Prometheus taught them to build dwellings and sow the field so as not to suffer from hunger. He taught them to work - the only source of true happiness. Only he never mentioned the gods in a word, so people knew nothing about them. Therefore, they did not call on them, did not make sacrifices.
This was very disliked by the celestials, especially the almighty Zeus. He called Prometheus to himself and ordered to teach the new mankind to revere and obey the gods. Prometheus made a promise, but did not keep it. He was convinced that the people he created were so perfect that they could do without the gods.
Little by little centuries passed, people became more and more, but still they did not know the gods and did not revere them. Zeus was angry, called all the gods and announced to them that he would destroy the generation of people who did not recognize the gods, and he himself would create new ones, more perfect than those created by Prometheus. Prometheus learned about his plan, about the fate of the people he created. Without delay, he went to Olympus and began to beg Zeus to cancel his decision. He promised that he would tell people how they should live so that the gods would be pleased with them. But Zeus was relentless. In the end, he agreed not to destroy the people, but on the condition that they make sacrifices to the gods. He concluded an agreement with Prometheus about this, threatening him that if the agreement was not fulfilled, then people would have a bad time.
Prometheus obeyed the will of Zeus. He slaughtered the bull, wrapped the meat in the skin, and put the not-so-tasty insides on top. Nearby he piled another heap of head and bones, which he tucked under the shiny fragrant fat. Then he asked Zeus to indicate which of the two heaps he wants to receive from people as a sacrifice to the immortal gods. Zeus sensed a catch, but nevertheless pointed to a pile covered with fat. Since that time, people have brought the bones and fat of sacrificial animals to the altar of the gods, and prepared feast dishes for themselves from tasty meat.
However, the other gods did not want to put up with this and asked Zeus to take revenge on people for deceit. Zeus heeded these requests and came up with a really severe punishment: he took fire from people. The same fire that Prometheus brought from the depths of the earth and gave to the people he created as the greatest jewel.
His heart clenched in pain. He knew what it meant to lose fire. And since he loved people immensely, he decided to help them, realizing that he would incur the wrath of the ruler of the gods. Quite a bit of time has passed since Zeus took fire from people, but Prometheus was already convinced of the suffering they endure because of this. All life on earth stopped: it became quiet in the workshops of artisans, the shepherds stopped extracting joyful melodies from their pipes, sadness settled in the dwellings of people. Darkness, black darkness threatened to engulf the whole world and plunge it back into the dark old times from which it began. Therefore, Prometheus hesitated no more. He secretly entered Olympus with the intention of stealing fire from the gods and bringing it to people.
He made himself a handy, sturdy staff, the right size for such a giant, but extraordinarily light. Then he skillfully hollowed out its core, so that the staff became empty inside, covered the holes on both sides so that they were not visible, and took this staff with him to the abode of the gods. There was an eternal flame. Prometheus imperceptibly hid embers and living sparks, the germ of a new fire, in his staff, and quickly left Olympus.
Returning to his lofty mountain, he opened one of the holes in his staff and drew out its contents. Thousands of sparks flew through the air like a swarm of bees, flared up and fell to the ground in the form of small flames. People enthusiastically picked them up and carried them to their homes. A sea of lights lit up the earth that evening, and humanity did not die, it survived. It was no longer necessary for people to be afraid of the cold, saddening darkness, in which the fruits of civilization would not ripen. The world has moved forward.
When Zeus noticed that people had a new fire, he was enveloped in wild anger. He immediately summoned the gods to watch how the industrious but arrogant people created by Prometheus cultivate the fields, tame animals to help them in their work, build dwellings and sail ships. And they also saw that people descend into the bowels of the earth and extract precious metals from there, that they learned to count and write, to make medicines. It was clear to Zeus who gave people fire and who taught them everything. Of course Prometheus! Therefore, Zeus, and with him the other gods, was seized with an indescribable rage. In the end, they decided to leave the fire to people, but crush them in a different way.
Zeus called on Hephaestus, the most skilled among the gods, and instructed him to sculpt from clay the figure of a charming girl with a human voice and the beauty of a goddess. When Hephaestus made a statue, he was revived, and one of the goddesses adorned the girl with an elegant belt, threw a luxurious cover over her and dressed her in white clothes. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, endowed her with irresistible charm, Hera - majesty, the messenger of the gods - Hermes - cunning and deceit. Each of the celestials gave her something. Such a generously decorated and gifted girl received the name Pandora. Then Zeus ordered Hermes to bring this girl, full of irresistible charm, to earth and make her the wife of his brother Prometheus, whose name was Epimetheus. He did not in any way resemble his wise brother Prometheus, who thought about any business in advance. On the contrary, Epimetheus began to think only later, after he had done something and it was already too late to correct anything.
Having punished people in this way, Zeus could not but punish Prometheus himself. He commanded two mighty divine beings, Power and Strength, to take Prometheus to the end of the world, to a deserted sheer cliff of the wild Caucasus, where no human foot had ever set foot. Hephaestus ordered to chain Prometheus to this desert rock. Hephaestus set off on a journey from Olympus on a magical chariot, flew through the air in it and descended onto the indicated rock in order to immediately fulfill the order of the lord of the gods. In a moment, the blows of his heavy hammer, with which he hammered the strongest nails into the rock, resounded far in all directions. The blows were so strong that the echo from them reached the heavenly palaces on Olympus. Prometheus experienced terrible suffering, but gathered all his strength and did not even utter a quiet groan.
The punishment of the gods did not end there. The main torment lay ahead. By evening, Prometheus heard the flapping of huge wings. An eagle circled over the rock, rushed at Prometheus and began to tear his liver with a steel beak. He pecked until there was nothing left of her. By morning the liver had grown again, the wounds had healed. But from evening to evening this terrible torment continues. Prometheus screamed from unbearable pain, and suffered silently, but help did not come to him from anywhere, no one took pity on him. People used the fire that he got for them, but they could not help him.
And yet Prometheus did not fall into despair. In vain the sea god persuaded him to submit to Zeus and obey him. Prometheus felt no guilt. Only love for people moved him, he wanted to make their life better and more joyful, why should he ask forgiveness from Zeus? The giant's body was fettered, but his spirit dreamed of freedom, of destroying the power of the gods over the world and humanity. He will not pray for anything to Zeus, who is blissful on Olympus at a time when humanity is condemned to suffering.
The messenger of the gods Hermes delivered to Prometheus the decision of Zeus: if he continues to be stubborn, then the lightning will overthrow him into the abyss, the whole rock will fall on him, and he will be in this terrible grave for a thousand years. And then they will condemn him to new suffering.
But Prometheus was not broken by either persuasion or threats. He firmly knew that he was right, that he was suffering for a good deed and had rendered a great service to people. He firmly decided that he would never beg Zeus for mercy. The feeling that he was suffering innocently only strengthened his perseverance. Really, he thought, do I have no right to resist Zeus - a tyrant who has become a complete master in heaven and rules over gods and people?
And Prometheus began to despise all those who inclined him to obedience, to hate Power and Strength, these cruel executors of the will of Zeus, ceased to respect his timid and obedient servants, such as Hephaestus and Hermes. Prometheus believed that love of freedom, in the end, would win in the fight against the power of the gods. Therefore, he continued to endure torments steadfastly, proud that he endures them for the good deed to people. The prophecy that Zeus was in danger, and he, Prometheus, would gain freedom, helped him to endure the torment.
Learning that Prometheus had an unfavorable prediction for the divine autocrat, Zeus sent Hermes to him, instructing him to find out his secret from the titan. However, Prometheus did not say anything to the messenger of the god. Zeus was angry and fulfilled his threat: he overthrew a rock with a lightning strike and threw Prometheus into a deep abyss.
For several centuries, the titan was in darkness, then Zeus raised him to the light and sent the eagle again to torment the liver of Prometheus again. For a long, long time, probably tens of thousands of years, the terrible torment of Prometheus lasted. The unbearable pain weakened, in the end, his perseverance. He revealed to Zeus the secret of prophecy. The lord of the gods did everything to avoid the danger that threatened him, and thus forever retained his power. But Zeus himself recognized the superhuman strength of Prometheus, so he subdued his anger. And the other gods decided to release the stubborn titan.
When the most famous of the Greek heroes, Hercules, wandered into the Caucasus in his wanderings, he pierced the tormentor-eagle with an arrow and broke the shackles that bound the long-suffering hero. Thus ended the greatest torment that has ever been endured because of the love of people. Zeus ordered Prometheus to be dressed in elegant clothes, remembered all the good that the titan had done for him, placed Prometheus among the gods and made him his adviser. And in order to fulfill the prophecy that Prometheus would be forever chained to a rock, a fragment of this rock was embedded in a ring that Prometheus constantly wore.
The feat of this philanthropic titan, who lit up the world and the human mind with the flame of knowledge, will never be erased from memory.
Prometheus is one of the titans in Greek mythology, the protector of people from the arbitrariness of the gods, the king of the Scythians. Son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene. Husband of Hesione, father of Deucalion. Brother of Atlas, Menetius and Epimetheus. Cousin of Zeus.
Prometheus deceived Zeus when the question of sacrifices arose in Mecon, butchering the carcass of a bull, Prometheus divided it by putting edible meat in one pile, which he hid with a skin and covered with a foul-smelling stomach of the animal, and in another - bones covered with pieces of fat, and then offered to choose for himself Zeus, the same was deceived by choosing the bones, because of which he took fire from people. Prometheus stole fire from Hephaestus and gave it to people. For this, Zeus ordered Hephaestus (or Hermes) to chain Prometheus to the rock of the Caucasus Mountains (in Colchis) or in Scythia. Prometheus was doomed to incessant torment - an eagle flew in and pecked out his liver, which grew back, since he was immortal. Until Hercules killed the eagle and persuaded Zeus to calm his anger in gratitude to Prometheus for pointing the way to the Hesperides. When Zeus freed Prometheus, he bound one of his fingers with a stone from a rock and iron, since then people have been wearing rings.
According to Hesiod, Prometheus fashioned people from the earth, and Athena endowed them with breath.
The full version of the myth of Prometheus in Hesiod
In Hesiod, the myth of Prometheus is told as follows: people, at the suggestion of Prometheus, began not to give the gods their due share during sacrifices: they left for themselves all the meat and all the entrails of the sacrificed animal suitable for food, and only the bones were burned for the share of the gods, for deception wrapping their fat. For this, Zeus took fire from people and hid it at home. But Prometheus stole divine fire (either from the altar of Zeus, or from the chariot of the sun), hid it in a reed with a loose core and brought it to people. This crime was the beginning of sinfulness, which took root after that among people. According to the myth, both Prometheus and the people were punished. The enraged Zeus ordered Hephaestus to make a girl of divine growth and appearance out of clay and gave her a voice. All the gods endowed her with everything, the most beautiful that they owned, therefore she was called Pandora (gifted with all perfections). Athena taught her skillful needlework, Aphrodite gave her beauty, seductive languor, the ability to please, and Hermes put in her insinuation and cunning. The Charites and Ores (Horai) beautifully dressed her with precious ornaments and the most beautiful flowers, so that she became delightful to both gods and people. According to the myth, Hermes led her to the reckless Epimetheus (“thinking things only after he does them”), a titan and brother of Prometheus; he married her without heeding the warnings of Prometheus. Her dowry was a tightly closed clay vessel, where Zeus put all the difficulties, disasters and illnesses of human life. When Pandora removed the lid, they flew out of the vessel, scattered over land and sea, and have been torturing people ever since. The only relief left was hope. We see from this myth that the Greeks considered the source of evil in human life not the very nature of man, but the enmity between two dynasties of gods. According to myth, he was punished by Zeus and Prometheus: he was chained to a pillar; an eagle devoured his liver every day, which grew again at night. But later Hercules killed the eagle, freed Prometheus from the shackles and reconciled with Zeus.