Prometheus was the Titan who, in Greek myth, stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, an act that earned him the eternal punishment of Zeus. He was also, in some traditions, the creator of the human race, forming the first humans from clay. His name means “forethought,” and he was the wisest of the Titans. He is figures in Greek mythology, a symbol of human creativity, the price of progress, and the defiance of unjust authority. The phrase “fire of Prometheus” has become a metaphor for the light of knowledge, and “Promethean” has come to mean boldly creative or defiantly original.
Prometheus is the Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, the figure whose myth is the foundation of the European idea of human progress. The standard ancient source is Hesiod’s Theogony (lines 507–616, the Prometheus–Pandora–Zeus cycle); the standard modern reading is Aeschylus’s lost Prometheus trilogy (the only surviving play of which, Prometheus Bound, is the most-quoted of all Greek tragedies); the standard modern reception is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), whose subtitle is The Modern Prometheus. The cult of Prometheus was a real Athenian cult, with a sacrifice at the Prometheia, and the altar of the cult in the Academy is the place where, according to the standard biographical tradition, Plato taught.
The Origin of Prometheus
Prometheus was a Titan, the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene. His brothers were Atlas, who was condemned to hold up the sky, Menoetius, who was struck by a thunderbolt of Zeus and sent to Tartarus for his pride, and Epimetheus, “Afterthought,” who was the brother of “Forethought.”
Prometheus did not fight against Zeus in the Titanomachy, but he sided with the gods against his fellow Titans. As a result, he was not cast into Tartarus with the other Titans, but he was given a special role as a counselor to Zeus and as the protector of humanity.
In some traditions, Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were tasked with creating the animals and the humans, and with giving each creature a special attribute. Epimetheus, who was careless, gave all the good attributes to the animals, leaving humanity naked and defenseless. Prometheus, to compensate, gave humanity the gift of fire, which he stole from the gods.
The Creation of Humanity
In the most familiar version of the myth, Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were the creators of the human race. According to Hesiod, the first humans were created during the reign of Cronus, the father of Zeus. They lived in peace and harmony, with no toil, no sickness, and no old age. When the age of Cronus ended and the age of Zeus began, the gods withdrew from humanity, and the human race was left to fend for itself.
To help humanity, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to the humans. In some versions, he stole it from the forge of Hephaestus, in others from the lightning of Zeus, and in still others from the sun-chariot of Helios. The theft of fire is the central act of the Prometheus myth, and it is the act that earned him his eternal punishment.
The Trick of the Sacrifice
Before the theft of fire, Prometheus had tricked Zeus in a dispute over the sacrifice. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, when the gods and the mortals were disputing the division of a sacrificial ox, Prometheus was asked to divide the ox into two portions, one for the gods and one for the mortals. He killed the ox and divided it into two parts: one part contained the good meat, hidden beneath the ox’s stomach, and the other contained the bones, hidden beneath the glistening fat.
When Zeus chose the portion for the gods, he picked the glistening fat, only to find that it covered only bones. He was furious, but he had chosen, and he could not go back on his choice. From that day forward, the gods received only the bones and the fat of the sacrifices, while the humans received the meat. Zeus was also furious that humans had fire, and he decided to punish both Prometheus and humanity.
The Theft of Fire
Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to the humans. In some versions, he hid the fire in a hollow fennel stalk, the narthex, which became a symbol of his cunning. The theft of fire is the central act of the Prometheus myth, and it is the act that earned him his eternal punishment.
The fire that Prometheus gave to humanity was not just ordinary fire. It was the fire of the gods, the fire of knowledge, of arts, of crafts, of medicine, of all the things that distinguish humans from animals. With this fire, humans were able to warm themselves, to cook their food, to forge metal, to make pottery, to write, to read, to think, to invent. The fire was the gift of civilization.
The Punishment of Prometheus
Zeus was furious at the theft of fire. He ordered Prometheus chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where an eagle (in some versions, an Caucasian Eagle) ate his liver every day. Because Prometheus was immortal, his liver grew back every night, and the eagle ate it again the next day. The torture lasted for thirty thousand years, or in some versions for a much longer time.
In addition to punishing Prometheus, Zeus also punished humanity. He ordered Hephaestus to create the first woman, Pandora, “all-gifted,” who was given to Epimetheus as a bride. Despite Prometheus’s warning, Epimetheus accepted her. Pandora brought with her a jar (later mistranslated as a box) containing all the evils of the world. When she opened it, the evils flew out, leaving only Hope inside. The myth is the source of the phrase “opening Pandora’s box.”
The Rescue by Heracles
Prometheus was finally rescued by the hero Heracles, who killed the eagle that was eating his liver and broke his chains. According to the myth, Heracles was passing through the Caucasus on his way to fetch the Apples of the Hesperides, one of his Twelve Labors, and he saw the tortured Titan. He took pity on him, killed the eagle, and freed him.
To satisfy Zeus, Prometheus agreed to wear a ring of chain, forever binding him to the rock. This is the origin, according to some traditions, of the wearing of rings, particularly rings of iron. Prometheus was thus freed from the eagle, but he was still bound to the rock in some way, and his sacrifice continued in a milder form.
The Chiron Myth
In a related myth, the centaur Chiron, the wisest and most just of the centaurs, was accidentally wounded by one of Heracles’s poisoned arrows, dipped in the blood of the Hydra. The wound was incurable, and Chiron, who was immortal, was doomed to suffer forever. To escape this fate, Chiron gave up his immortality in exchange for the release of Prometheus. Zeus agreed, and Chiron took the place of Prometheus on the rock, suffering in his stead. The myth is the origin of the constellation Centaurus, and it is the source of the phrase “Chiron in the sky.”
The Promethean Legacy
Prometheus is the central figure of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818), Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound (5th century BCE), and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound (1820). The Ridley Scott film Prometheus (2012) takes its title from the myth. The phrase Promethean has entered English as a description of bold, defiant creativity. For the broader modern reception, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. Prometheus is the figure for whom the modern readings are the most useful, but the ancient readings should come first. The Hesiodic Prometheus (in the Theogony and the Works and Days) is the trickster who steals fire and is punished for it; the Aeschylean Prometheus (in the lost Prometheus trilogy) is the defender of humanity, the figure who gives humans the fire and the arts. The two are not the same figure, and the modern synthesis (the Prometheus of human progress) is a later development, popularised by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the German Romantics. The reader who wants the older version should consult Hesiod directly.