Prometheus Counterculture Analysis
Janine Frani
Dr. Sugars
Greek Mythology
TR 2pm
30 November 2014
Prometheus, Counterculture and Rise of the Individual self In Hesiod’s Theogony, Prometheus is bound to a rock for tricking the God Zeus into believing that animal bones dressed up in fat was owed to the gods and reserved the best of the meat to humankind for the rest of time. As punishment, Zeus chains him to a rock on Mount Caucasus where an eagle is sent every day to eat his liver and/or heart out (Hyginus, Trzaskoma 232). The liver is destroyed through overconsumption of food, alcohol and intoxicants, whereas the heart is destroyed by passion restrained by the banal necessities of modern life. Could this reveal the significance of the suffering of Prometheus, the father of …show more content…
In Ken Goffman’s Counterculture Through The Ages, Goffman cites Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, in which Prometheus boasts that he
“… brought humanity: architecture—‘they knew not how to build brick houses… they lived like swarming ants in sunless caves’; calenders—‘they had no certain mark of [the seasons]… until I showed them’; mathematics and writing—‘numbering… and letter combinations that hold all in memory’; transportation—‘I harnessed…carriages that wander on the sea, the ships sail winged; and medicine—‘I showed them blendings of mild simples… to drive away all kinds of sickness.’ (Goffman …show more content…
In Hyginus’s Stories, the god, ever the enterpriser reaches out to Zeus who is about to sleep with the Nereid Thetis. Prometheus, who is gifted with visions of the future, “promises to advise him on the matter if he would free him from his bonds” (Trzaskoma et al. 232). The god reveals to Zeus that Thetis would give birth to a son that is greater than his father, and with Jupiter’s pursuit averted, he sends Heracles to kill the eagle that tortures him and unchain the god. The brute force of Heracles can be seen as the dynamo behind human civilization that releases Prometheus from any sense of guilt about his hubris. Instead of feeling shame, Prometheus is there given free reign over humanity by Zeus, even walking away with the immortality of Cheiron (Apollodorus, Trzaskoma et al. 36). The brute force of Heracles may be seen as the unrelenting persistence to destroy and ultimately banish any societal or divine (i.e. traditional) restrictions on Prometheus’s innovations. Foresight, not hindsight or regret, saved him after all from the oppressive might of Zeus, proving that past traditions cannot reign in change and the
Dr. Sugars
Greek Mythology
TR 2pm
30 November 2014
Prometheus, Counterculture and Rise of the Individual self In Hesiod’s Theogony, Prometheus is bound to a rock for tricking the God Zeus into believing that animal bones dressed up in fat was owed to the gods and reserved the best of the meat to humankind for the rest of time. As punishment, Zeus chains him to a rock on Mount Caucasus where an eagle is sent every day to eat his liver and/or heart out (Hyginus, Trzaskoma 232). The liver is destroyed through overconsumption of food, alcohol and intoxicants, whereas the heart is destroyed by passion restrained by the banal necessities of modern life. Could this reveal the significance of the suffering of Prometheus, the father of …show more content…
In Ken Goffman’s Counterculture Through The Ages, Goffman cites Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, in which Prometheus boasts that he
“… brought humanity: architecture—‘they knew not how to build brick houses… they lived like swarming ants in sunless caves’; calenders—‘they had no certain mark of [the seasons]… until I showed them’; mathematics and writing—‘numbering… and letter combinations that hold all in memory’; transportation—‘I harnessed…carriages that wander on the sea, the ships sail winged; and medicine—‘I showed them blendings of mild simples… to drive away all kinds of sickness.’ (Goffman …show more content…
In Hyginus’s Stories, the god, ever the enterpriser reaches out to Zeus who is about to sleep with the Nereid Thetis. Prometheus, who is gifted with visions of the future, “promises to advise him on the matter if he would free him from his bonds” (Trzaskoma et al. 232). The god reveals to Zeus that Thetis would give birth to a son that is greater than his father, and with Jupiter’s pursuit averted, he sends Heracles to kill the eagle that tortures him and unchain the god. The brute force of Heracles can be seen as the dynamo behind human civilization that releases Prometheus from any sense of guilt about his hubris. Instead of feeling shame, Prometheus is there given free reign over humanity by Zeus, even walking away with the immortality of Cheiron (Apollodorus, Trzaskoma et al. 36). The brute force of Heracles may be seen as the unrelenting persistence to destroy and ultimately banish any societal or divine (i.e. traditional) restrictions on Prometheus’s innovations. Foresight, not hindsight or regret, saved him after all from the oppressive might of Zeus, proving that past traditions cannot reign in change and the