The Famous Tale: Famous Tales: Prometheus's Life

Famous Tales Prometheus had many famous encounters throughout his lifetime, from which legends were formed. His first known tale was of the Titanomachy, which established his ability to foresee the future, and his family connections to Iapetus (his father) and his siblings. As well, “When Zeus and the Olympian gods rebelled against the Titans, Prometheus sided with the gods and thus won their favor” (“Prometheus” Myths Encyclopedia). So, when after the war most of the Titans were imprisoned in Tartaros, Prometheus was an exception thanks to his foresight. Prometheus was the creator of humankind. One rainy day, Prometheus found himself experimenting with clay on Earth. All of a sudden, he had a marvelous idea: he would mould things called …show more content…
This verse fits very nicely into the story of when Prometheus created humans because it captures the rebellious nature Prometheus had toward Zeus from the beginning. It’s almost as though Prometheus made these humans to spite Zeus. One day, when Athena was admiring the clay dolls, she breathed on them and they came to life (Prometheus “Myths Encylcopedia”). However, in a rendition of the story by Lottridge, the humans were brought to life by seeds of Chaos that Prometheus had been keeping in a jar (25). Ever since humans began their lives on Earth, Zeus disliked them and did what he could to punish them. First, feeling threatened by the humans, believing that one day they could overthrow Zeus himself, he denied them immortality. Prometheus was pained by this, and so, to save them from their suffering, he gave humans fire. Soon, Prometheus was tasked with deciding how humans would sacrifice to the gods. Of course, Prometheus wanted his dear humans to have the only the best in life, and that included the best food. So, Prometheus prepared a cow in two parts. On one platter he took the best meat and covered it with the cow’s stomach so it would look unappealing. On the next, he arranged the bones under a thick, juicy layer of fat which would attract anyone to eat it (“Prometheus” Myths …show more content…
One morning, when almighty Zeus looked down upon the Earth and saw fire, he knew that Prometheus was the culprit. For this transgression, Prometheus was tied to the Caucasus Mountains where an eagle ate his liver every day. However, in his immortality, the liver grew back each night. This caused great suffering and agony to befall upon Prometheus (“Prometheus” Myths Encyclopedia). Even when Prometheus was rendered useless to help the humans due to his imprisonment, Zeus continued to punish the humans, and in turn Prometheus. This time Zeus did it indirectly through an elaborate plan. Zeus enlisted the help of Hephaestus to create a woman out of clay, whom the winds breathed life into. Many gods gave her gifts of personality and physical characteristics. One critical gift given to Pandora, meaning “all-gifted”, was curiosity (“Prometheus” Myths