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November 19, 2023- by Steven Greer
The original god, Chaos, created Gaia and Uranus, and they in turn created the 1) Titans, 2) Cyclops, and 3) the Hecatoncheires.
The Titam Lapetus created Prometheus as well as Atlas and Epimetheus.
Prometheus means forethought. He is known as the God of Fire.
When Zeus was battling his father Cronus (a Titan), the other Titans aligned against him. Only Prometheus sided with Zeus. Prometheus predicted Zeus would win and was correct.
Prometheus helped Zeus by providing his power and strength as a descendant of the Titans.
Zeus won the battle and became the ruling god.
A perfect peace took over the universe, which bored Zeus.
Zeus had his son Hephaestus, the God of Blacksmiths, create something unique. He made animals and men out of earth and fire. Men were like the gods, and they were only male.
Zeus had to decide which qualities to give animals and men. He gave some animals strength, some speed, some fur to keep warm. This task was given to Epimetheus, the brother god of Prometheus.
But Epimetheus forgot to give Men traits. he went to Zeus to fix his mistake and asked him to give Men fire, which he did. Men only had to climb to the top of trees to get the powerful fire.
This was the Golden Age. Men had peaceful lives. They did not have to work. The wheat grew naturally. There was no cold season and no war
The only thing distinguishing gods from men was in mortality. But men did not even really die. They just went to sleep and the god Hypnos would take them down to the Elysian Fields.
Zeus got tired of sharing everything with humans and decided to put them in their place. He was at the top of the summit of Mount Olympus. A little below were the other gods, and at the bottom of Olympus were Men.
Prometheus did not approve of men being at the bottom.
Zeus convened a large meeting where an ox was sacrificed. The best part of the ox was to go to the gods, and the other part was to go to Men. Prometheus was in charge of this and tricked Zeus. He concealed the best part, and gave Zeus the worst part of the ox.
Zeus became angry and made men pay, even though it was not their mistake.
Zeus took away fire from Men. The wheat had to be farmed by men and men had to work. He Men had no light at night or ability to cook food.
Prometheus went to Athena for help on behalf of Men. She allowed him to slip into Mount Olympus and steal fire from Zeus. He sneaked into Zeus’ chamber and stole a bit of fire, hiding it in a stalk of fennel.
Prometheus gave the power of fire to men by deceiving Zeus. Therefore, Zeus sought revenge on Prometheus by first punishing his cherished mortal men.
Zeus, once again, had his son Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths, to create the first ever mortal woman. She was called Pandora, which means “all gifted”. The various gods gave her talents of beauty, sex, etc. Zeus gave Pandora to Prometheus’ brother, Epimetheus.
Zeus gave Pandora a magical box. In it were all of the misery and evils now known to man. Zeus told her to never open it. On her wedding night, she of course opened it, letting the evils escape. This is how Zeus hurt men, which hurt Prometheus.
However the Pandora’s box had something beneficial in it as well, and that was the power of hope. This is how men preserver through hardship.
After that, Zeus went after Prometheus directly by strapping him to a rock where an eagle ate his liver every day. It regenerated and the cycle repeated for thousands of years. However, Zeus did not kill him outright because Prometheus kept a secret about Zeus.
Finally, Zeus sent Heracles the Titan to free Prometheus so that he could learn the secret. Prometheus, who had the power of forethought, told Zeus that his son by Thetis, if they were to have children, would usurp him. That is when Zeus gave Thetis away.
The lesson from the Prometheus myth is that it can be good and noble to challenge authority. However, it is also dangerous to play God. When Prometheus helped men with fire, he was punished.