Summary

In Greek mythology, Prometheus (in ancient Greek Προμηθεύς

Inherited figure of the "transmitter of fire", Prometheus is best known for having stolen the sacred fire from Olympus to give it to humans. Incensed by this disloyal act, Zeus condemned him to be tied to a rock on Mount Caucasus, his liver devoured by the Caucasian Eagle every day, and repulsed at night. Many elements of his legend, such as his punishment, seem to have been borrowed by the Greeks from the legends of the Caucasus.

It first appeared in Hesiod's poem Theogony in the 7th century BC, then in Aeschylus' play Prometheus in Chains in the 5th century BC.

The meaning of the theonym Promêtheús is debated. Its name Προμηθεύς

Nevertheless, the name remains rather paradoxical for a character whose reckless tricks cause a rift between Zeus and mankind, earning him exemplary punishment. The adjective promêthês has no filiation, hence the idea that it may have been formed by reverse derivation from the name Prometheus. It has thus been linked to the Old Indian proper name Videgha Māthavá, the name of a king of the (Kosala-)Videhas, a people of eastern Vedic India. His legend relates to the eastward progression of the Indo-Aryans. This progression was made possible by the "civilizing" fire, which cleared wasteland, extended the Brahmanic cult (opening up a space for sacrifice) and thus linked up with the myth of Prometheus. Using this analogy, Jean Haudry, like other linguists, suggests reinterpreting the name Prometheus from the Greek verb pro-ma(n)th-, close in meaning to the Old Indian promáthi "foresight, providence", which appears frequently in Vedic hymns to Agni, god of sacrificial fire and hearth. The connection pro-men- attested in the sense of "to invent, to produce" in Vedic and Baltic is probably only preserved in Greek in the sense of "to foresee".

It has also been theorized that his name derives from the Proto-Indo-European root that produced the Vedic noun pra math, "to steal", hence pramathyu-s, "thief", related to Prometheus, the fire thief. The Vedic myth of the theft of fire by Mātariśvan, one of Agni's nicknames, is, in fact, analogous to the Greek tale. Pramantha is the tool used to create fire, the friction of two pieces of wood by gyration. The suggestion that Prometheus was originally "the human inventor of fire sticks, from which fire is kindled", dates back to Diodorus Siculus in the first century BC.

Hésychios indicates that Prometheus was called Ithás or Íthax, forms related to aíthein: "to burn".

Prometheus is a "transmitter of fire", who may have stolen it, a universal figure predating the common Indo-European period. His myth also reflects the universal notion of fire's ambiguity as a "dangerous friend", central to Prometheus's being both far-sighted and reckless, useful and dangerous, ambiguous and paradoxical, like the Norse god Loki.

It also conveys Indo-European notions of civilizing fire and the fire of worship, which are reflected in the legend of Māthavá and in the idea that Prometheus is the origin of all arts and techniques. Moreover, the Indo-European divine fire is a "friend of men", whom it can draw closer to by turning away from the gods, as it is by nature a defector. This figure, whose name *māthew- was ancient, came into contact with a Caucasian demigod at a time when the Greeks were in close contact with certain Caucasian populations. These contacts are said to have led to the Georgian legend of Amirani, the Armenian legend of Artawazd and the Greek legend of the punishment of Prometheus, a punishment hardly comprehensible for a civilizing fire god, but much more so for a fire thief who defies the supreme god. Contacts with the Caucasus are also at the root of the myth of Pandora, based on the idea taken up by Hesiod that woman is the origin of man's ills. Nevertheless, her creation, like that of the first man from clay, is of Mesopotamian origin.

Prometheus was a Titan, younger son of Japet or Clymene according to Hesiod, and brother of Atlas, Menetios and Epimetheus. He is also the father of Deucalion, conceived with Pronoia (or Clymene).

The flight of fire

Following the victory of the new gods led by Zeus over the Titans, Prometheus rode in the chariot of the Sun with a torch, concealed a firebrand in a hollow stalk of common ferula and gave the "sacred fire" to mankind. The poet Hesiod explains in his Theogony that Prometheus stole fire from the gods using a ferrule stem, alluding to its combustible properties. In other variants, he stole it from Hephaestus (Aeschylus, Prometheus in Chains, 7) or from the "wheel of the Sun" (Servius, Ad Ecl., 6,42). In so doing, he is merely reclaiming the fire that was lost through his own fault.

Prometheus, "providence of mankind

He teaches humans metallurgy and other arts, which are taught to Prometheus by Athena, who helped him secretly enter Olympus.

The divine fire's friendship with man is a traditional fact. But it's a dangerous friend, because fire is unpredictable. Prometheus is said to be "good" and "benevolent". His benevolence towards man is the flip side of his secret malevolence towards Zeus. Jean-Pierre Vernant explains: "fire is a dólos, a deceptive ruse, a trap, initially directed against Zeus, who is taken in by it, but which turns against men if necessary".

Discovering his cunning, Zeus punished him, not for giving knowledge to men, but for stealing from the gods: in fact, Prometheus' task was to give a breath of life to every creature, his brother's was to arm them (claws, tusks, fangs...) so that they could defend themselves. Epimetheus having failed, the gift of fire corrected human weakness and was justified.

Prometheus, creator of humanity

According to the pseudo-Apollodorus, Prometheus created man from earth and water. Pausanias sets the scene at Panopaea, in Phocis: Athena, born by sprouting from the head of Zeus, introduces the breath of life into these clay bodies. Depending on the version: Epimetheus, the fool, not knowing what to do for mankind, calls on his brother for help, who devises a plan to help humanity. Prometheus made Man able to stand on his own two legs, giving him a taller, more distinguished body, closer to that of the gods. But man was still too weak to defend himself properly against other earthly creatures.

It has been suggested that this episode of man's creation from clay is borrowed from Near Eastern legends. However, the significance of this act differs: in Sumer, man is created at the request of the gods to serve them; in Greek myth, it is as a competitor and almost as a rival that man opposes the gods.

Prometheus, sacrificial fire

In Hesiod's version, to end this dispute between gods and men over fire, Prometheus organizes the sacrifice of an ox to Mecone, divided into two unequal parts. In one, with an appetizing appearance, he puts the fat and bones, and in the other, less well arranged in appearance, the best parts. Having devised this fraudulent division, he invites Zeus to choose the part he likes best. Zeus chooses the first part, which increases his anger and resentment. This episode is commonly referred to as "the division of Mecone". It was at this time that men left the fat and bones for the gods to sacrifice. This sharing led to the establishment of a diet that differentiated between men and gods. By reserving the flesh of the ox for men, Prometheus condemned the human species to the vital need to eat meat and thus be forced to live a short life, while the immortal gods are satisfied with odors, perfumes, nectar and ambrosia. After this sacrificial sharing, Zeus wants to punish Prometheus for having deceived him: he forbids men the use of fire to cook and feed themselves, and Prometheus again steals it in order to restore it to them, which leads to a new vengeance from Zeus, who sends men a "beautiful calamity", Pandora.

Unlike the gods of Brahmanical India, the Greek gods do not sacrifice, but Prometheus, as the ancient sacrificial fire, institutes the first sacrifice. In so doing, he deceives Zeus, just as Loki deceives the other gods in Norse mythology. The episode repeats the traditional motif of the deceitful divine Fire.

The punishment

Provoked too many times by the insolent Prometheus, Zeus decides to take revenge on his protégés, mankind. He asks his son Hephaestus to model the first woman, as Prometheus had only created men. Each god and goddess offers a quality to the creature: Athena gives her beautiful clothes, Aphrodite grace and beauty, the Moires necklaces... and Hermes curiosity, on Zeus' orders. The king of the gods then names the woman Pandora, meaning "gift of all" (by which he means all the gods), and instructs Hermes to offer her to Epimetheus. Epimetheus hesitates, as his brother has ordered him not to accept any gift from the gods. But Epimetheus is captivated by Pandora's beauty, and accepts.

For defying Zeus and his order, Prometheus is chained to a rock or mountain (depending on the version) with chains forged by Hephaistos. To punish him for his affection for short-lived humans, his liver is devoured daily by an eagle. As the organ grows back each night, the titan Prometheus, immortal by nature, undergoes the same ordeal every day.

Heracles rescued Prometheus during his twelve labors, but in order not to break Zeus' oath that the Titan would remain forever chained to the Caucasus, Prometheus had to wear an iron ring from his chains, attached to a piece of Caucasus stone, for the rest of his life. On the other hand, when Zeus declares his intention to annihilate the human race in a flood, he finally spares Prometheus' son Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha. Prometheus becomes immortal thanks to the centaur Chiron: accidentally wounded by Heracles' poisoned arrows, Chiron can no longer bear suffering but can neither heal nor die, so he asks the gods for death. Zeus granted him this after Chiron had bequeathed his immortality to Prometheus, for Zeus was grateful to Prometheus for having predicted that, had he married the Nereid Thetis, the son they would have had together would have been more powerful than him and would have dethroned him.

Prometheus' punishment is unlikely to be an inherited motif. As far back as antiquity, this episode of legend has been linked to the Caucasus. Georges Charachidzé has highlighted the close links between Greek and Georgian narratives, showing how the two legends interpenetrated and perhaps developed jointly. These concordances extend to the detail of certain expressions, such as Aeschylus' designation of the eagle as a "flying dog", which parallels the winged dog of the Georgian hero Amirani.

The Promethia is a torchlight race that pits teams from various Athenian tribes against each other. The race started from the altar of Prometheus at the Academy and passed through the Ceramics, the potters' district, which he patronized. Researchers agree that this cult was a rite of annual renewal of the fire, initially that of the potters' kiln.

The legend of Prometheus is known to us from two main literary sources: Hesiod's Theogony and Aeschylus' Prometheus in Chains. While both authors agree on the essential elements of the legend, they differ on its interpretation. In Hesiod's succession of divine generations, or doctrine of the ages of the world, Prometheus' reckless actions bring mankind the evils that afflict it today, starting with woman, and the poet echoes a foreign conception.

Aeschylus, on the other hand, takes a much more positive, progressive view of Prometheus as a civilizing hero who leads mankind from savagery to civilization. In Aeschylus, Prometheus becomes a character typical of the transformations of the ancient Indo-European world with the Age of Metals and the emergence of heroes who "contempt the gods". Aeschylus' Prometheus speaks like these heroes: "Frankly, I hate the gods" (Aeschylus, v. 975). An alliance is thus established between the civilizing hero and men against the gods. Nevertheless, it is probable that, in Prometheus Delivered, the Titan was reconciled with Zeus, thus restoring the order of things. In his tragedy, Aeschylus also makes the Titan the guardian of the secret that Thetis is destined to bear a son more powerful than his father. Zeus covets Thetis. This allows Prometheus to defy Zeus, who sends Hermes to extract the secret from him. Prometheus refuses, and Hermes announces his punishment: Zeus' thunderbolt will bury him under the collapsed rocks, and his eagle will come and gnaw his liver to make him give in.

The myth of Prometheus is accepted as a metaphor for bringing knowledge to mankind. It's one of the most recurrent myths in the Indo-European world (but it's also found among other peoples: the domestication of fire brought with it the corresponding myths). It relates how this divine messenger dared to rebel, to steal (against the advice of the gods) the sacred Fire of Olympus (a divine invention symbolizing knowledge) in order to offer it to humans and enable them to learn. It is also evocative of hybris, man's mad temptation to measure himself against the gods and thus rise above his condition.

Ancient philosophy

According to some Greek and Latin versions, Prometheus is punished for his audacity and chained to a rock (or crucified, according to others). Many authors trace this myth and extrapolate it in various ways.

According to Protagoras of Ceos, in Plato's Protagoras, Prometheus intends to make up for the error of his brother Epimetheus, who had given animals, to the detriment of the human race, the most important gifts: strength, speed, courage and cunning; hair, wings or shell, and so on . For the first argument, the sophist turns to Greek mythology, recounting the legend of Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus. At the creation of the world, the gods entrusted Epimetheus with the task of distributing physical gifts and qualities among living beings. To make up for his brother's mistake, Prometheus stole the secrets of fire and the arts from Hephaestus and Athena. To prevent the men who possessed these new powers from killing each other, Zeus also bestowed upon them the sentiments of modesty and justice, the foundations of political awareness and community life. This is why every human being has a notion of politics within him, and can easily express an opinion on the subject.

According to Dion of Pruse in the VIth Discourse, reporting the words of Diogenes of Sinope, Prometheus is punished for having stolen fire, because it was a principle of softness and sensuality, and will be a source of pleasure rather than serving courage and justice. According to Diogenes, Prometheus is a sophist, the eagle that devours his liver is popular opinion, and it is as a vain man that he falls victim to it. In the VIIIth Discourse, Heracles delivers him from the Underworld because he takes pity on him, and at the same time delivers him from his vanity and disordered ambition.

Theophrastus made Prometheus the first philosopher, which is simply an application of Peripatetic literalism to a remark made by Plato. Theophrastus says that Prometheus, having become wise, first communicated philosophy to mankind, hence the fable that he gave them fire.

For the alchemist Zosimus of Panopolis (circa 300 CE), who claims to reflect Hesiod's intention, Prometheus is bound in the man represented by his brother Epimetheus, just as the spirit or intellect is bound in the body. This interpretation is echoed by later alchemists, e.g. Michael Maier (c. 1600), who addresses his readers as follows: "You who carry in your heart the spark of Prometheus' light"; or Thomas Vaughan (c. 1650), according to whom "intellectual man bound by the same bond" "is signified in this poetic fable of Prometheus".

Classical and modern philosophy

For Hobbes, the sufferings of Prometheus, condemned to have his liver devoured every day, symbolize the fears and other pains inspired in mankind by worries about the future.

Gaston Bachelard uses a reference to Prometheus to coin the concept of the "Prometheus complex", which he defines as "all the tendencies that drive us to know as much as our fathers, more than our fathers, as much as our masters, more than our masters". In his words, "the Prometheus complex is the Oedipus complex of intellectual life". Günther Anders, philosopher of technology, coined the concept of "Promethean shame", expressing man's shame at his own finitude in the face of machine perfection. Philosopher Hans Jonas refers to the myth of Prometheus in The Responsibility Principle (1979), to allude to the reckless risks associated with the consequences of certain human behaviors and technical choices, in relation to the ecological, social and economic equilibrium of the planet. This idea has been taken up by Sylvie Mullie-Chatard, who likens the myth of technical progress to the myth of Prometheus, which is a very modern reduction.

Literature

The figure of Prometheus has had an abundant posterity in literature. Lucian of Samosate evokes his myth in Prometheus or the Caucasus.

In Germany, Goethe published the fragmentary dramatic poem Prometheus in 1774, depicting Prometheus as the embodiment of a rebellious creative spirit who turns against God.

In the UK, several writers have reinterpreted the figure of Prometheus. In 1818, British author Mary Shelley subtitled her fantasy novel Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. The novel recounts the attempt by a scientist, Dr. Frankenstein, to artificially create a human being, and gives the character of Dr. Frankenstein a Promethean dimension: Frankenstein acts as a demiurge, only to be overcome by remorse at the catastrophic consequences of his act. In 1820, Percy Shelley, husband of Mary Shelley, wrote a poem entitled Prometheus Unbound. In 1899, the French writer André Gide published a novel, Le Prométhée mal enchaîné, featuring Prometheus in the 19th century.

For Albert Camus, in 1946, in a Europe in ruins after the violence and convulsions of History, Prometheus embodies contemporary man, persecuted and son of justice, who suffers the misfortune of all knowingly: "O justice, O my mother," cries Prometheus, "you see what I am made to suffer. And Hermes taunts the hero: "I'm surprised that, being a soothsayer, you didn't foresee the torment you're suffering. - I knew it," replies the rebellious man.

Music

Ludwig van Beethoven was inspired by the myth of Prometheus, with whom he could identify; invested with the mission to breathe vitality, and bring art and knowledge to mankind, despite the torment of his increasing deafness, which drove him to solitude and melancholy. He composed the music for the ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, premiered in 1801, whose finale features the Prometheus theme also found in the Variations héroïques op.35, in the seventh of his 12 Contredanses, WoO 14, and in the Symphonie no 3 (héroïque). These works are contemporary with Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power, which Beethoven, sensitive to revolutionary ideas, enthusiastically welcomed. The parallel with Prometheus is a natural one, as Beethoven saw Bonaparte, before 1805, as the man through whom ideas of freedom and independence would spread to people all over Europe (an ideal soon disappointed, as Beethoven deleted the dedication to Bonaparte from his Symphonie héroïque when he learned that the First Consul had crowned himself emperor).

Goethe's poem has been set to music by Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Schubert ("Prometheus", 1819) and Hugo Wolf (1889). Gabriel Fauré composed a stage score, Prométhée, based on a text by Jean Lorrain and André-Ferdinand Hérold, which premiered in Béziers in 1900. Russian composer Alexandre Scriabine wrote a work entitled Prométhée ou le Poème du feu in 1910.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, Prométhée is regularly evoked in songs of various genres. French singer Claude Nougaro composed and wrote a song Prométhée, published on his album Au New Morning in 1981. The rapper Akhenaton, from the group IAM, wrote a song Prométhée for the album Métèque et mat in 1995.

Norwegian black metal band Emperor's album Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise also refers to the titan Prometheus.

Comic strips

In the Japanese manga One Piece by Eichiro Oda, Prometheus is a little sun who accompanies Big Mom, and is the companion of the cloud Zeus until the latter is replaced.

In 2016, the comic book series La Sagesse des mythes, directed by Luc Ferry, featured Prométhée in Prométhée et la boîte de Pandore, scripted by Clotilde Bruneau and drawn by Giuseppe Baiguera.

Video games

The action video games God of War 2 (2007) and God of War 3 (2010) feature the torment of Prometheus. The player must put an end to it by throwing Prometheus on the pyre in order to gain new power.

The Immortals video game Fenyx Rising also features Prometheus meeting Zeus, who tells him the story of the game after Fenyx's victory over Typhon.

The JRPG Chrono Trigger, features, Prometheus (R66-Y or Robo), meeting the group of, Crono, the latter, having been repaired, helps the group destroy Mother Brain's artificial intelligence in 2300 A.C. Inseparable friend of, Lucca Ashtear, who is elemental, Fire.

On screen

Marcel L'Herbier's Prométhée... banquier (1921) transposes the myth to contemporary times.

The 2012 science-fiction film Prometheus, directed by Ridley Scott and set in the Alien universe, evokes the unwitting creation of humans by an ancient, technologically advanced race, the Architects, having previously been the source of a dangerous creature called a xenomorph. The film's title and subject form a parallel with Prometheus's creative talents and recklessness.

In the Stargate SG-1 series, the first human spaceship inspired by extraterrestrial technology is named Prometheus, at the suggestion of Captain Samantha Carter.

In the Supernatural series, the Winchester brothers meet a man who dies every day and then comes back to life: Prometheus, who has lost his memory (Season 8, episode 16).

The Great Myths animated series tells the story of Prometheus.

Sources

1. Prometheus
2. Prométhée
3. ^ In this interpretation, Angelo Casanova is joined by some editors of Theogony.
4. ^ Some of these changes are rather minor. For instance, rather than being the son of Iapetus and Clymene Prometheus becomes the son of Themis who is identified with Gaia. In addition, the chorus makes a passing reference (561) to Prometheus' wife Hesione, whereas a fragment from Hesiod's Catalogue of Women fr. 4 calls her "Pryneie", a possible corruption for Pronoia.
5. a et b Brisson 2008, p. 2182.
6. Jean-Louis Perpillou, Les substantifs grecs en -eúç, Paris, Klincksieck, 1973, p.208 et suiv.
7. Haudry 2016, p. 327-328.
8. a et b (de) Goto Toshifumi, Hintergrund der indoarischen Einwanderung in Indien und die Menschengeschichte, Journal of International Philosophy, No. 3, janvier 2014.
9. Haudry 2016, p. 347-343.
10. a b Fortson 2004, 27
11. «Prometheus | Description & Myth». Encyclopedia Britannica. Αρχειοθετήθηκε από το πρωτότυπο στις 10 Σεπτεμβρίου 2020. Ανακτήθηκε στις 8 Σεπτεμβρίου 2020.
12. William Hansen, Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 32, 48–50, 69–73, 93, 96, 102–104, 140; as trickster figure, p. 310.
13. Hesiod, Theogony 526-8
14. Dougherty, C. (2006). Prometheus. Abingdon: Routledge.