Editing Prometheus (section)

=== Oldest legends ===

====Hesiod's ''Theogony'' and ''Works and Days''====

=====''Theogony''=====
[[File:Prometheus Adam Louvre MR1745 edit atoma.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Prometheus depicted in a sculpture by [[Nicolas-Sébastien Adam]], 1762 ([[Louvre]])]]

The first recorded account of the Prometheus myth appeared in the late 8th-century BC [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] epic poet [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]''. In that account, Prometheus was a son of the [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]] [[Iapetus (mythology)|Iapetus]] by [[Clymene (wife of Iapetus)|Clymene]] or [[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]], one of the [[Oceanids]]. He was brother to [[Menoetius (mythology)|Menoetius]], [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], and [[Epimetheus (mythology)|Epimetheus]]. Hesiod, in ''Theogony'', introduces Prometheus as a lowly challenger to [[Zeus]]'s omniscience and omnipotence.

In the [[trick at Mecone]], a sacrificial meal marking the "settling of accounts" between mortals and immortals, Prometheus played a trick against Zeus. He placed two sacrificial offerings before the Olympian: a selection of beef hidden inside an ox's stomach (nourishment hidden inside a displeasing exterior), and the bull's bones wrapped completely in "glistening fat" (something inedible hidden inside a pleasing exterior). Zeus chose the latter, setting a precedent for future sacrifices. Henceforth, humans would keep that meat for themselves and burn the bones wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods. This angered Zeus, who hid fire from humans in retribution. In this version of the myth, the use of fire was already known to humans, but withdrawn by Zeus.<ref>[[Martin Litchfield West|M. L. West]] commentaries on Hesiod, W.J. Verdenius commentaries on Hesiod, and R. Lamberton's ''Hesiod'', pp. 95–100.</ref>

Prometheus stole fire back from Zeus in a [[fennel]] stalk and restored it to humanity. This further enraged Zeus, who sent the first woman to live with humanity ([[Pandora]], not explicitly mentioned). The woman, a "shy maiden", was fashioned by [[Hephaestus]] out of clay and Athena helped to adorn her properly. Hesiod writes, "From her is the race of women and female kind: of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helpmeets in hateful poverty, but only in wealth". For his crimes, Prometheus was punished by Zeus, who bound him with chains and sent an eagle to eat Prometheus' immortal liver every day, which then grew back every night. Years later, the Greek hero [[Heracles]], with Zeus' permission, killed the eagle and freed Prometheus from this torment.
[[File:Heinrich fueger 1817 prometheus brings fire to mankind.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''Prometheus Brings Fire'' by [[Heinrich Friedrich Füger]]. Prometheus brings fire to mankind as told by Hesiod, with its having been hidden as revenge for the trick at Mecone.]]

===== ''Works and Days'' =====
Hesiod revisits the story of Prometheus and the theft of fire in ''[[Works and Days]]''. In it the poet expands upon Zeus's reaction to Prometheus' deception. Not only does Zeus withhold fire from humanity, but "the means of life" as well. Had Prometheus not provoked Zeus's wrath, "you would easily do work enough in a day to supply you for a full year even without working; soon would you put away your rudder over the smoke, and the fields worked by ox and sturdy mule would run to waste".

Hesiod also adds more information to ''Theogony''{{'}}s story of the first woman, a maiden crafted from earth and water by Hephaestus now explicitly called Pandora ("''all gifts''"). Zeus in this case gets the help of Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes, the [[Graces]] and the [[Horae|Hours]]. After Prometheus steals the fire, Zeus sends Pandora in retaliation. Despite Prometheus' warning, Epimetheus accepts this "gift" from the gods. [[Pandora's box|Pandora carried a jar with her]] from which were released mischief and sorrow, plague and diseases. Pandora shuts the lid of the jar too late to contain all the evil plights that escaped, but Hope is left trapped in the jar because Zeus forces Pandora to seal it up before Hope can escape.

=====Interpretation=====
Casanova (1979),<ref name=Casanova-1979>Casanova, Angelo (1979). ''La famiglia di Pandora: analisi filologica dei miti di Pandora e Prometeo nella tradizione esiodea''. Florence.</ref><ref>Angelo Casanova is a professor of Greek literature at the University of Florence.</ref> finds in Prometheus a reflection of an ancient, pre-Hesiodic [[trickster]]-figure, who served to account for the mixture of good and bad in human life, and whose fashioning of humanity from clay was an Eastern motif familiar in ''[[Enuma Elish]]''. As an opponent of Zeus, the titan Prometheus can be seen as characteristic of the [[Titan (mythology)|titans]] in general, and like other titans, was punished for his opposition. As an advocate for humanity he gains semi-divine status at Athens, where the episode in ''[[Theogony]]'' in which he is liberated<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'', 526–533.</ref> is interpreted by Casanova as a post-Hesiodic interpolation.{{efn|In this interpretation, Angelo Casanova is joined by some editors of ''[[Theogony]]''.}}<ref name=Casanova-1979/>

According to the classicist [[:de:Karl-Martin Dietz|Karl-Martin Dietz]], in Hesiod's scriptures, Prometheus represents the "descent of mankind from the communion with the gods into the present troublesome life".<ref name="Karl-Martin Dietz 1989, p. 66">{{cite book |last=Dietz |first=Karl-Martin |year=1989 |title=Metamorphosen des Geistes |volume=1 |page=66 |chapter=Prometheus – vom Göttlichen zum menschlichen Wissen |place=Stuttgart}}</ref>

====The Lost Titanomachy====
[[File:Carl Bloch, Prometheus' Befrielse, 1864, The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|''The Release of Prometheus'', 1864 oil on canvas by [[Carl Bloch]], considered lost until 2012, [[Athens]].]]

The [[Titanomachy (epic poem)|Titanomachy]] is a lost epic of the cosmological struggle between the Greek gods and their parents, the Titans, and, in addition to the works of [[Hesiod]], is a probable source of the Prometheus myth.<ref>Reinhardt, Karl. ''Aischylos als Regisseur und Theologe'', p. 30.</ref> Its reputed author was supposed to have lived in the 8th century BC, but [[M.&nbsp;L. West]] has argued that it can't be earlier than the late 7th century BC.<ref>{{cite journal |first=M. L. |last=West |author-link=Martin Litchfield West |title='Eumelos': A Corinthian Epic Cycle? |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=122 |year=2002 |pages=109–133  |doi=10.2307/3246207 |jstor=3246207 |postscript=none }}, pp. 110–111.</ref> Presumably included in the Titanomachy is the story of Prometheus, himself a Titan, who managed to avoid being in the direct confrontational cosmic battle between Zeus and the other [[Twelve Olympians|Olympians]] against [[Cronus]] and the other Titans<ref name=Philippson>{{cite book|last=Philippson|first=Paula|date=1944|title=Untersuchungen uber griechischen Mythos: Genealogie als mythische Form|location=Zürich, Switzerland|publisher=Rhein-Verlag|url=https://archive.org/details/MN40011ucmf_4}}</ref> (although there is no direct evidence of Prometheus' inclusion in the epic).<ref name="auto2"/> M.&nbsp;L. West notes that surviving references suggest that there may have been significant differences between the Titanomachy epic and the account of events in Hesiod; and that the Titanomachy may be the source of later variants of the Prometheus myth not found in Hesiod, notably the non-Hesiodic material found in the ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' of [[Aeschylus]].<ref name="auto3">{{harvp|West|2002|pp=114}}, and 110–118 for general discussion of Titanomachy.</ref>