Prometheus, possibly meaning "forethought", is a Titan, culture hero, and trickster figure who is credited with the creation of man from clay,
and who defies the gods by stealing fire and giving it to humanity, an act that enabled
progress and civilisation. Prometheus is known for his
intelligence and as a champion of mankind[2] and also seen as the author of the human arts
and sciences generally. He is sometimes presented as the father of Deucalion, the hero of the Greek flood story.
The punishment of Prometheus as a
consequence of the theft is a major theme of his mythology, and is a popular
subject of both ancient and modern art. Zeus,
king of the Olympian gods, sentenced the Titan to
eternal torment for his transgression. The immortal Prometheus was bound to a
rock, where each day an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, was sent to feed on his
liver, which would then grow back overnight to be eaten again the next day. (In
ancient Greece, the liver was often thought to be the seat of human emotions.)[3] Prometheus is freed at last by the hero Heracles (Hercules).
In another myth, Prometheus
establishes the form of animal sacrifice practiced in ancient Greek religion.
Evidence of a cult to Prometheus
himself is not widespread. He was a focus of religious activity mainly at Athens, where he was linked to Athena and Hephaestus, other Greek deities of creative skills and
technology.[4]
In the Western classical tradition,
Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the
quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences.
In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts
to improve human existence could also result in tragedy: Mary Shelley, for instance, gave The Modern Prometheus as
the subtitle to her novel Frankenstein (1818).
