PROMETHEUS

The Giver of Fire By: Philip Neff and Dominic Lincourt

Prometheus is one of the Titans that did not fight in the war between the gods and titans. He was a supreme trickster, and the god of fire. His intellectual side was emphasized by the meaning of his name, Forethinker. He became a master craftsman and created man.

BACKGROUND

Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create man. He is known as the protector of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including fire.

STORY SUMMARY

He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts.

For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver. He was to be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to Zeus which of Zeus children would try to replace him.

Prometheus was eventually rescued by Hercules without giving in to Zeus.

 Fire: Fire represents warmth, light, transformation, life and love in which Prometheus gives to man. Prometheus transforms the man’s life by giving him fire to build a society. Prometheus loves his creation and would do anything to protect them even if he is disobeying Zeus.

ARCHETYPE

 Eagle: The eagle represents punishment, as after Prometheus was chained by Zeus's command for disobeying him by giving man fire, the eagle caused pain upon him by devouring his liver every day.

 Earth (Mud): Earth represents creation, solidness and passiveness. In the story Prometheus creates man out of the solid earth and in the bible god forms man from the earth too. Prometheus creates man to be passive.

 The Caregiver: Prometheus loves his creation. He wants to protect and care for it by giving man the attributes of the gods, not sacrificing it to Zeus and the ultimate gift, fire.

CHARACTER ARCHETYPES

 The Creator: Prometheus was instructed by Zeus to create man because Prometheus is a master craftsman. He is very creative and creates thing of value. Prometheus visions an image and creates it out of mud.

 We chose this theme because in the myth, Prometheus creates man and wishes to share the fire to help them have an advantage over the other animals, although Zeus decided that fire was strictly for the gods. Yet even though this rule was in place, Prometheus still stole fire and gifted it to man, caring for his creation.

THEME: SHARING IS CARING

 Break up your summary over multiple slides to make it easier to follow.

 Give a little background of Prometheus.

 See if you can find more archetypes from the story!

 Also, maybe rethink your theme?

NOTES