Themes and Relationships formed from Prometheus, Pandora and Zeus
The myths found in Greek Mythology often contain underlying themes that relate to human nature and characteristics. They were often created in order to explain why things occurred and would sometimes interlink with each other in order to explain these wider themes. There are three such myths that will be elaborated on in this essay. These are the myths involving Prometheus, with one being the trickery of the sacrifice and the other being the theft of fire, and the myth of Pandora. These three myths were set out in Hesiod’s Works & Days and Theogony, and have been extensively studied and compared to other cultures’ myths due to the themes and relationships that are seen within …show more content…
Prometheus takes fire back from Zeus as Zeus’ action is undertaken in an incorrect manner as he does not give a gift in reply to the previous gift instead, he takes something which continues the theme of exchange (Nagy, 1981). Prometheus hides the fire within a hollow fennel stalk, thus continuing the deceptive gift theme, allowing men once more to regain their status above animals (Brien & Major, 1982). This greatly angers Zeus and ends up being the reason that the final myth occurs as Zeus seeks to punish men even further. He replies to Prometheus’ initial deceptive gift in the correct manner this time, with the giving of another deceptive gift, Pandora (Nagy, 1981).
Pandora is created by Hephaestus and is given many gifts from the other gods to make her exterior look increasingly appealing (Brien & Major, 1982). She is also moulded so as to have the talents of “deception, of lying, of consuming both food and sex” yet she is said to contribute nothing to the household (Brien & Major, 1982). She is the first woman and is the final deceptive gift given to men. In Hesiod’s Works & Days, she is described as having the face of a goddess and the “morals of a bitch” which gives leave to the idea of women being in a status between the gods and animals (Everything 2, …show more content…
Men apportion shares of the Ox out to the gods and to themselves. In apportioning these shares, this act splits men and gods from dining with each other in harmony and from communicating with each other in a normal way(Everything 2, 2004). Because of this split in no longer dining together, it is evident that some sort of hierarchy is being established and, because of this, the relationship between men and gods is being strained.
The sacrifice “constitutes a tangible sign of their separation, since gods do not eat meat” (Clay, 2003). The gods smell the sacrificed food being cooked and the men eat the meat to live. As, technically, the gods do not need food to live, this shows the apparent separation in the relationship that has come about through the sacrifice (Clay, 2003). On the other hand, the necessity for men to eat food to live places them within a similar mould to that of an animal which paves the way for the eventual joining of nature upon the taking of fire by Zeus (Hesiod’s
The myths found in Greek Mythology often contain underlying themes that relate to human nature and characteristics. They were often created in order to explain why things occurred and would sometimes interlink with each other in order to explain these wider themes. There are three such myths that will be elaborated on in this essay. These are the myths involving Prometheus, with one being the trickery of the sacrifice and the other being the theft of fire, and the myth of Pandora. These three myths were set out in Hesiod’s Works & Days and Theogony, and have been extensively studied and compared to other cultures’ myths due to the themes and relationships that are seen within …show more content…
Prometheus takes fire back from Zeus as Zeus’ action is undertaken in an incorrect manner as he does not give a gift in reply to the previous gift instead, he takes something which continues the theme of exchange (Nagy, 1981). Prometheus hides the fire within a hollow fennel stalk, thus continuing the deceptive gift theme, allowing men once more to regain their status above animals (Brien & Major, 1982). This greatly angers Zeus and ends up being the reason that the final myth occurs as Zeus seeks to punish men even further. He replies to Prometheus’ initial deceptive gift in the correct manner this time, with the giving of another deceptive gift, Pandora (Nagy, 1981).
Pandora is created by Hephaestus and is given many gifts from the other gods to make her exterior look increasingly appealing (Brien & Major, 1982). She is also moulded so as to have the talents of “deception, of lying, of consuming both food and sex” yet she is said to contribute nothing to the household (Brien & Major, 1982). She is the first woman and is the final deceptive gift given to men. In Hesiod’s Works & Days, she is described as having the face of a goddess and the “morals of a bitch” which gives leave to the idea of women being in a status between the gods and animals (Everything 2, …show more content…
Men apportion shares of the Ox out to the gods and to themselves. In apportioning these shares, this act splits men and gods from dining with each other in harmony and from communicating with each other in a normal way(Everything 2, 2004). Because of this split in no longer dining together, it is evident that some sort of hierarchy is being established and, because of this, the relationship between men and gods is being strained.
The sacrifice “constitutes a tangible sign of their separation, since gods do not eat meat” (Clay, 2003). The gods smell the sacrificed food being cooked and the men eat the meat to live. As, technically, the gods do not need food to live, this shows the apparent separation in the relationship that has come about through the sacrifice (Clay, 2003). On the other hand, the necessity for men to eat food to live places them within a similar mould to that of an animal which paves the way for the eventual joining of nature upon the taking of fire by Zeus (Hesiod’s