Creation+of+Man+by+Prometheus

The Creation of Man by Prometheus Austin O'Keane Honors Communications 10



List of Key Points -pro MEE thee us

-After the Olympians beat the Titans in the war for complete control over the universe, they banished the Titans to Tartarus (TAR ter iss).

-Prometheus and Epimetheus (ep uh MEE thee us) were spared imprisonment because they sided with the Olympians during the war.

-Zeus gave the task of creating man to Prometheus and Epimetheus, but when Epimetheus was done assigning the various characteristics to the animals, there were none left for humans.

-To compensate, Prometheus gave humans the ability to stand upright and gave them the gift of fire, an act which greatly angred Zeus. -Prometheus decided to trick Zeus by making too piles of meat, one consisting of juicy meat covered in animal hide and the other of bones covered in fat. The pile that Zeus chose would be the portion Zeus would recieve in later sacrifices.

-Zeus chose the bones, angering him enough to take fire away from man. Prometheus stole the fire back, which further angered Zeus, who decided to punish both Prometheus and man.

-Man's punishment was the creation of Pandora (pan DOOR a), a beautiful women. She was sent to live with the humans and was given a box, which she was told not to open. In time, she became too curious and opened the box, unleashing sorrow, mischief, misfortune, etc. on mankind.

-Prometheus, as punishment, was chained to a rock. Every day an eagle would eat his liver, only for the liver to grow back each night and torture to begin again the next day. Zeus would release him if he revealed the son that would overthrow him.

Main Character List 

Prometheus: Prometheus, whose name means "forethought," was the Titan son of Iapetus. For more information concerning Prometheus, click here. Epimetheus: Epimetheus, whose name means "afterthought," was the Titan son of Iapetus and brother of Prometheus. For more information, click [|here]. Pandora: Pandora was the first woman, and she was credited for releasing mischief, misfortune, sorrow, etc. on mankind. For more information about Pandora, click [|here].

Olympians War with Titans In order to gain complete control of the universe, Zeus needed to overthrow the current ruler, his father, Cronus. Zeus fought a series of wars against Cronus and the Titans. He and the Olympians conquered and exiled the Titans to Tartarus. Prometheus and Epimetheus, two Titans, sided with Zeus. Because of their help, the two were spared imprisonment with the other Titans.

The Creation of Man After the wars Zeus assigned the creation of man to Prometheus and Epimetheus. Prometheus sculpted man out of mud and clay. Athena breathed life into the figures. Zeus did not like the creatures Prometheus formed from the clay, so he denied them immortality. When Epimetheus was finished assigning the various qualities such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, and wings, to the creatures, he realized that there were no features left for man. Therefore, Prometheus allowed man to stand upright as the gods did, and gave them fire as a gift.

Because Zeus banished most of Prometheus's family to Tartarus, Prometheus decided to trick Zeus. When Zeus ordered man to make a sacrifice to the gods, Prometheus cut up a bull and divided it into two piles. One portion consisted of bones covered in juicy fat, and the other contained good meat hidden under the hide of the bull. Prometheus made Zeus give his word that the pile he chose would be the share he would accept for future sacrifices. The other portion would be the meat the the mortals would keep. He then had Zeus make his choice. Zeus chose the pile of bones and juicy fat because that portion looked the most appealing. Therefore, he was to be given the worse of the two portions in later sacrifices.

The trick greatly angered Zeus, enough to take fire away from man. Because he loved man (more than he loved the Olympians), Prometheus went behind Zeus's back, stole a spark of fire from Haphaestus, and brought the fire back to man. This engraged Zeus even more, and he decided to punish both man and Prometheus.

Man's Punishment To punish man, Zeus had Hephaestus create a beautiful mortal. Hermes gave the mortal a deceptive heart and a lying tongue. The mortal was Pandora, the first woman. Pandora was given many gifts of wealth from the gods, but the final gift given to her was a jar (or box), which she was forbidden to open. Zeus then sent Pandora down to Epimetheus, who was staying with the mortals. Even though Prometheus had warned Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus, Epimetheus allowed her to stay because of her beauty. Eventually, Pandora's curiosity became too great and she opened the jar, unleashing mischief, sorrow, plagues, and misfortune on all of mankind. Pandora quickly shut the box, trapping its only good item inside, hope.



Prometheus's Punishment Zeus had his two servants, Force and Violence, take Prometheus to the Caucasus Mountains and chain him to a rock with unbreakable adamanite chains. There, an eagle would tear at his body and eat his liver, only to have it grow back every day for the eagle to eat it again. Because he was immortal, Prometheus would not die and suffered daily for thousands of years. Zeus offered Prometheus his freedom if he revealed who was bearing the child that would overthrow him. Prometheus told him that Thetis would bear Zeus's son, so he had her marry a mortal. Hercules was sent to kill the eagle and break the chains that bound Prometheus.

This is a video clip from the video game God of War 2. The informational section is from 0:00 to 1:45 (Prometheus and his story). The rest is part of the video game. media type="google" key="-3363577681603974537&hl=en&fs=true" width="400" height="326" This is a clip of a poem, recited in German, by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The pictures are the reason that I included this video clip. If you would like to know what the poem says in English, click [|here]. media type="google" key="-215159757982106294&hl=en&fs=true" width="400" height="326"