To punish Prometheus for outwitting him and for giving fire to men, Zeus had the Titan chained to a mountain in the Caucasus (the range in modern-day Russia), and the Caucasian Eagle came daily to feed from the liver of Prometheus. Each night, the organ regenerated itself; each day, the Eagle fed once more.
The punishment lasted for eons, until Hercules, a mortal although fathered by Zeus, found the helping Prometheus would help Hercules complete his infamous Twelve Labors. After a long search Hercules found Prometheus where the Titan had been hidden. Hercules slew the Eagle and freed Prometheus.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus was the Titan who created man and woman from clay, who protected them and, when Zeus would deny man the heavenly fire, stole it and gave it to humankind.
Prometheus was the wisest of the Titans. His name means 'forethought' and he could predict the future. He was the god of the arts, creativity, endurance under injustice.
Ancient triptych found in Sparta, showing Hercules (Greek: Heracles) with his legendary bow, facing Prometheus Bound, and shooting arrows at the Caucasus Eagle, Zeus's agent of torment.
Zeus (Raman: Jupiter)
Many people today do not realize that the famous sculpture in Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, is of Prometheus.
"This play is one of the most perfect of Greek dramas or of any literary work, in the purity of the writing, in the power that cannot be diminished in translation, and in the motif: how the individual emerges, whether for good or for evil, when he is set against his angry God."
from The Introduction to the Harvard University Classics
The legend of Prometheus inspires the knowlege that, no matter what dreadful experiences we must endure, we will be found, as Prometheus was found by Hercules, and we will be rescued from oblivion. to enlighten, to seek, and continue our pilgrimage towards what is vital to human fulfillment.
What Prometheus brought to mankind was fire: the fire that was the true creation of civilization, of knowlege and learning, of the arts, of beauty in all its forms that man creates: Music, Paintings, Words, ... and most of all,.the beauty of Kindness and Love between a man and a woman.
This page was last updated on: February 3, 2006
Web page created January 9, 2003
A Midi version is below; exceptional, of Somewhere In Time, with the #23 Paganini Variation ... If you hear static, just touch the volume button briefly
This web page was designed, researched, and edited by Shannon Edits. Your questions are welcome.
In the beginning was Chaos... an abyss of swirling lightlessness...
From Chaos came Gaea (Earth) and Uranus (the Heavens), and from them, the Titans...
And from the Cronus, king of Titans, issued the gods, of whom Zeuswas king...
There is a reason I chose the music you may like to hear on the two players. It is from a film starring Christorpher Reeve before his accident. Reeve, to my mind, exemplifies one who has garnered a spark of Promethean fire... who endures an unjust blow of fate with grace and heart. This webpage is dedicated to him.
Turn on the above player for the Roger Williams version of Somewhere In Time/Paganini #23 variation.
Won't you come visit some of my other websites? A Few Sites to See gives you links to The Blue Day Book, Aesop's Fables for grown up folks, and much more...
