Editing Prometheus (section)

==== Athenian religious dedication and observance ====
It is understandable that since Prometheus was considered a Titan (distinct from an Olympian) that there would be an absence of evidence, with the exception of Athens, for the direct religious devotion to his worship. Despite his importance to the myths and imaginative literature of ancient Greece, the religious cult of Prometheus during the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] and [[Classical Greece|Classical periods]] seems to have been limited.<ref name="Dougherty, Prometheus, p. 46">Dougherty, ''Prometheus'', p. 46.</ref> Writing in the 2nd century AD, the satirist [[Lucian]] points out that while temples for the major Olympians were everywhere, none for Prometheus is to be seen.<ref>Lucian, ''Prometheus'' 14.</ref>

[[File:Heracles freeing Prometheus, relief from the Temple of Aphrodite at Aphrodisias.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Heracles freeing Prometheus, relief from the Temple of Aphrodite at [[Aphrodisias]]]]

Athens was the exception; here Prometheus was worshipped alongside [[Athena]] and [[Hephaestus]].{{sfnp|Kerényi|1997|p=58}} The altar of Prometheus in the grove of the Academy was the point of origin for several significant processions and other events regularly observed on the [[Athenian calendar]]. For the [[Panathenaic festival]], arguably the most important civic festival at Athens, a torch race began at the altar, which was located outside the sacred boundary of the city, and passed through the [[Kerameikos]], the district inhabited by [[Pottery of ancient Greece|potters]] and other artisans who regarded Prometheus and Hephaestus as patrons.<ref>On the association of the cults of Prometheus and Hephaestus, see also Scholiast to Sophocles, ''[[Oedipus at Colonus]]'' 56, as cited by Robert Parker, ''Polytheism and Society at Athens'' (Oxford University Press, 2007), p. 472.</ref> The race then travelled to the heart of the city, where it kindled the sacrificial fire on the altar of Athena on the [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]] to conclude the festival.<ref>Pausanias 1.30.2; Scholiast to Plato, ''Phaedrus'' 231e; Dougherty, ''Prometheus'', p. 46; Peter Wilson, ''The Athenian Institution of the'' Khoregia'': The Chorus, the City and the Stage'' (Cambridge University Press, 2000), p. 35.</ref> These footraces took the form of [[relay (race)|relays]] in which teams of runners passed off a flaming torch. According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] (2nd century AD), the torch relay, called ''lampadedromia'' or ''lampadephoria'', was first instituted at Athens in honour of Prometheus.<ref>Pausanias 1.30.2.</ref>

By the Classical period, the races were run by [[ephebos|ephebes]] also in honour of Hephaestus and Athena.<ref>Possibly also [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]]; Wilson, ''The Athenian Institution of the Khoregia'', p. 35.</ref> Prometheus' association with fire is the key to his religious significance<ref name="Dougherty, Prometheus, p. 46"/> and to the alignment with Athena and Hephaestus that was specific to Athens and its "unique degree of cultic emphasis" on honouring [[technology]].<ref>Farnell, ''The Cults of the Greek States'', vol. 1, p. 277; Parker, ''Polytheism and Society at Athens,'' p. 409.</ref> The festival of Prometheus was the Prometheia (τὰ Προμήθεια). The wreaths worn symbolised the chains of Prometheus.<ref>Aeschylus, ''[[The Suppliants (Aeschylus)|Suppliants]]'' frg. 202, as cited by Parker, ''Polytheism and Society at Athens,'' p. 142.</ref> There is a pattern of resemblances between Hephaestus and Prometheus. Although the classical tradition is that Hephaestus split Zeus's head to allow Athena's birth, that story has also been told of Prometheus. A variant tradition makes Prometheus the son of [[Hera]] like Hephaestus.{{sfnp|Kerényi|1997|p=59}} According to that version, the Giant [[Eurymedon (mythology)|Eurymedon]] raped Hera when she was young, and she had Prometheus. After Zeus married Hera, he threw Eurymedon into Tartarus and punished Prometheus in Caucasus, using the theft of fire as an excuse.<ref>Scholium on the ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=-9EIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA515 14.295]</ref><ref>Gantz, pp. 16, 57; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA88 p. 88].</ref> Ancient artists depict Prometheus wearing the pointed cap of an artist or artisan, like Hephaestus, and also the crafty hero [[Odysseus]]. The artisan's cap was also depicted as worn by the [[Cabeiri]],{{sfnp|Kerényi|1997|pp=50–51}} supernatural craftsmen associated with a mystery cult known in Athens in classical times, and who were associated with both Hephaestus and Prometheus. [[Kerényi]] suggests that Hephaestus may in fact be the "successor" of Prometheus, despite Hephaestus being himself of archaic origin.{{sfnp|Kerényi|1997|pp=57–59}}

Pausanias recorded a few other religious sites in Greece devoted to Prometheus. Both [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] and [[Opous]] claimed to be Prometheus' final resting place, each erecting a tomb in his honour. The Greek city of [[Panopeus]] had a cult statue that was supposed to honour Prometheus for having created the human race there.<ref name="titan"/>