Mythology Book

3636

Z

eus’s victory in the war

with the Titans had been

hard won but decisive. He

and his brothers held unchallenged

sway over the heavens, Earth, and

sea. The usurper of a usurper,

he had seized supremacy by

dethroning Kronos, who had

himself toppled the tyrant Ouranos.

No ruler could afford to become

complacent, however seemingly

unassailable their position—and a

challenge to the authority of Zeus

was fast approaching.

Spirit of rebellion

Prometheus, a young Titan and

therefore a survivor of the old

regime, was the son of Iapetus and

IN BRIEF

THEME

Origin of humanity

SOURCES

Theogony and Works and

Days, Hesiod, ca.700 bce;

Library, Apollodorus, ca.100 ce

SETTING

Greece, the Aegean, and

the Caucasus Mountains,

Western Asia.

KEY FIGURES

Zeus King of the gods.

Iapetus The youngest Titan,

son of Ouranos and Gaia.

Klymene A sea nymph,

daughter of the Titan Oceanus.

Prometheus Son of Iapetus

and Klymene.

Deukalion Human son of

Prometheus.

Pyrrha Wife of Deukalion.

Hephaestus The blacksmith

god.

HE BOUND CUNNING

PROMETHEUS IN

INESCAPABLE

FETTERS

PROMETHEUS HELPS MANKIND

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ANCIENT GREECE 37

Zeus and his subjects. Despite

this, all sources regard him as

a central part of the conflict.

Self-confident in his cleverness,

Prometheus was independent-

minded, irreverent, and defiant.

His contempt for Zeus’s authority

was all too clear. Worse still, he

appeared to pass on this rebellious

spirit to Zeus’s human subjects.

From clay to stone

According to Apollodorus’s Library,

Prometheus was the creator of

humanity, shaping the first man

and woman from moist clay. This

first race of humans walked the

Earth for only a single generation

before being swept away by an

angry Zeus in a worldwide flood.

Prometheus’s human son,

Deukalion, and his wife, Pyrrha,

were the only survivors. Typically,

Prometheus had outmaneuvered

Zeus, prompting his son and his

See also: Origin of the universe 18–23 ■ The war of the gods and Titans 32–33 ■ Pandora’s box 40–41 ■ The many affairs

of Zeus 42–47

daughter-in-law to save themselves

by building a floating wooden chest

in which to ride out the deluge.

Deukalion survived the great

flood and its aftermath by showing

more tact than his father. He

thanked Zeus for letting him and

Pyrrha live, built an altar, and

offered sacrifice. Zeus was so

pleased to see this submissive

spirit that he not only allowed

Deukalion and Pyrrha to go on

living but told Deukalion how

he could re-create humanity.

He and his wife were told to ❯❯

Prometheus Carrying Fire, by the

Flemish painter Jan Cossiers (1671),

shows the young Titan stealing the

precious resource for mankind.

Klymene’s children

According to Hesiod’s Theogony,

“Iapetus took Klymene,

Oceanus’s elegant-ankled

daughter to his bed.” Other

ancient authors, however,

referred to her as “Asia.” With

Iapetus, Klymene bore four sons,

each of whom was, ultimately,

fated for misery.

During the war of the Titans,

Zeus killed Klymene’s prideful

son, Menoetius, by hurling him

into the underworld with a

lightning bolt. Following the

victory of the Olympian gods,

another of Klymene’s sons, Atlas,

was made to suffer for his role in

leading the Titan forces. He was

sentenced by Zeus to carry the

heavens on his shoulders as

punishment for resisting the

Olympian ascendancy.

Epimetheus, Klymene’s third

son, was every bit as foolish as

Prometheus was cunning. Against

his brother’s advice, he was duped

into accepting Pandora as a gift

and marrying her. He had no idea

that she had been created to

be both beautiful and deceitful,

and was sent by Zeus to bring all

manner of sorrows into the world.

Klymene, celebrated for quick

intelligence, dexterity, and skill.

Prometheus’s very name meant

“Thinking Ahead”: he was an

inventor and a strategist. Different

sources disagree on the precise

part Prometheus played in the

continuing struggle between

Atlas carries the heavens on

his shoulders. Although commonly

mistaken for an Earth globe, the

round structure weighing on Atlas

represents the celestial sphere.

Prometheus shaped

men out of

water and clay.

Library

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