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Prometheus,
in Greek mythology, one of the Titans, known as the friend and benefactor
of humanity, the son of the Titan Iapetus by the sea nymph Clymene
or the Titaness Themis. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were
given the task of creating humanity and providing humans and all
the animals on earth with the endowments they would need to survive.
Epimetheus (whose name means afterthought) accordingly proceeded
to bestow on the various animals gifts of courage, strength, swiftness,
and feathers, fur, and other protective coverings. When it came
time to create a being who was to be superior to all other living
creatures, Epimetheus found he had been so reckless with his resources
that he had nothing left to bestow. He was forced to ask his brother's
help, and Prometheus (whose name means forethought) took over the
task of creation. To make humans superior to the animals, he fashioned
them in nobler form and enabled them to walk upright. He then went
up to heaven and lit a torch with fire from the sun. The gift of
fire that Prometheus bestowed upon humanity was more valuable than
any of the gifts the animals had received.
Because of his actions Prometheus
incurred the wrath of the god Zeus. Not only did he steal the fire
he gave to humans, but he also tricked the gods so that they should
get the worst parts of any animal sacrificed to them, and human
beings the best. In one pile, Prometheus arranged the edible parts
of an ox in a hide and disguised them with a covering of entrails.
In the other, he placed the bones, which he covered with fat. Zeus,
asked to choose between the two, took the fat and was very angry
when he discovered that it covered a pile of bones. Thereafter,
only fat and bones were sacrificed to the gods; the good meat was
kept for mortals. For Prometheus's transgressions, Zeus had him
chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where he was constantly preyed
upon by an eagle. Finally he was freed by the hero Hercules, who
slew the eagle.
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