Prometheus — Titan God

Prometheus was the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel who was given the task of moulding mankind out of clay. His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into conflict with Zeus. Firstly he tricked the gods out of the best portion of the sacrificial feast, acquiring the meat for the feasting of man. Then, when Zeus withheld fire, he stole it from heaven and delivered it to mortal kind hidden inside a fennel-stalk. As punishment for these rebellious acts, Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora (the first woman) as a means to deliver misfortune into the house of man, or as a way to cheat mankind of the company of the good spirits. Prometheus meanwhile, was arrested and bound to a stake on Mount Kaukasos (Caucasus) where an eagle was set to feed upon his ever-regenerating liver (or, some say, heart). Generations later the great hero Heracles came along and released the old Titan from his torture.

Prometheus' Famiy
Prometheus was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene, and the brother of Epimetheus, Atlas, and Menoetius.

Prometheus' Name
Even though modern scholars tend to disagree, as far as the Ancient Greeks were concerned, the name “Prometheus” had been derived from the Greek prefix pro- (“before”) and the verb manthano (“to learn,” “to be increased in knowledge”), making Prometheus the “Forethinker,” that is, the One Who Thinks Ahead. Analogously, Prometheus’ brother’s Epimetheus was the “Afterthinker,” i.e., the One Who Thinks Afterward.

Prometheus vs Zeus
Things, however, got sour between Prometheus and Zeus soon after Zeus had established himself as the sovereign ruler of all gods and men. The primary cause for this was Zeus’ tyrannical treatment of humankind, which, in the eyes of Prometheus, deserved a far better master.

Prometheus and the Stealing of Fire
Angered by Prometheus’ trick, Zeus tried punishing humankind by hiding from them the gift of fire. Prometheus didn’t think this just, so he stole the fire from Olympus and brought it back to earth in a fennel stack. In honor of this act, the Athenians instituted a race, during which runners of the same team passed between them a flaming torch until the last runner of the winning team had the privilege to use it to kindle the sacrificial fire on the altar of Athena on the Acropolis. This, of course, marked the origin of both relay races and the modern Olympic flame ceremony.

Prometheus’ Punishment
The Eagle
As gruesome as this punishment for humanity had been, it didn’t seem to alleviate Zeus’s anger. So, he decided to punish Prometheus as well. Once again, he was as cruel as one can be: he had the Titan chained to a rock in the Caucasus and sent an eagle to prey on him. Every day the eagle tore a part of Prometheus’ liver which grew back again during the night so that the unbearable torment could go on indefinitely.

The Freeing of Prometheus
Neither Zeus nor Prometheus backed down in their hardheadedness for centuries. And who knows how many eons their struggle would have gone on if it hadn’t been for Zeus’ son, Heracles, who happened upon the chained Prometheus on his way to the Hesperides. Whether Heracles shot the eagle and freed Prometheus as a sign of gratitude for the latter advising him to send Atlas to fetch the golden apples and complete his labor – or it was the other way around, we may never know for sure. However, we do know that Zeus allowed this to happen and that afterward he and Prometheus buried the hatchet and finally made peace with each other.

Zeus and Prometheus and the Gift of Fire - Ancient Greek myth for children