Comparing Frankenstein 'And The Modern Prometheus'

Talia Barnoy
Question 3 Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley tells a tale of a man, Victor Frankenstein, who creates life but at a cost. Victor loses his health as he works to create life and ends up with a murdering creature at whom he can not bear to look. Frankenstein’s subtitle is The Modern Prometheus, for the very reason that the book heavily resembles the myth of Prometheus. Prometheus steals fire from Zeus to give to the humans but ends up chained to a rock. Both stories resemble each other because both Victor and Prometheus disobey the idea of things being only available to Gods and end up facing the consequences, as well as the references to fire. Prometheus is a Greek myth about a titan who helped the Gods of Olympus during their battle against the rest of the titans. He loved humankind and wished to aid them in their fight for survival by giving them fire because he looked down at man and saw them struggling and eating raw meat. Greek mythology differs from Abrahamic, the religion that Frankenstein has, where there are many Gods who stand for their own powers instead of one God having all the power. Zeus, the king of the Gods, prohibited him from teaching humans fire because fire was a Godly thing that
God. Victor’s defiance being that he took the creation of life into his own hands, and his punishment being the disappointment of the creature and the state he is left in. The punishments may have been different but for the same reason of them having taken Godly powers and bringing it to humanity. Even though Victor strictly tries not to share his findings when he notes Waltons “eagerness” (page 54) to know how Victor created life, Victor is still considered human and has taken the power of life. The basis for punishment, for Victor and Prometheus, are slightly different. Where victor is punished for being human and thinking of himself as a God, and Prometheus giving Fire to