Fire of Olympus and Humanity

The Fire of Humanity

(Following “The origins of the Titan Prometheus“)

 In the last post, we talked about the Titan Prometheus and his family history. Here we will explore the story that made him famous, the thief of fire.

 Humanity's birth

After the whole fiasco of the Titanomachy, which involved Hera trying to backstab everyone because she was sick of her cheating husband. Zeus gave Prometheus and Epimetheus a mission.  Their task consists of giving the animals unique abilities as well as creating the first humans. Prometheus, being the craftier of the two, set to make the humans while Epimetheus took care of the animals.  Prometheus made humans out of clay that he mould. Kinds of remind us of from how Odin created humankind as he used a tree trunk. However, as time goes one, he started to like humans a lot. Unfortunately for both him and the humans, Zeus did not share the same attention. He viewed them as nothing more than pawns to worship him. Too had insult on injury, his brother Epimetheus left the humans on the side as, unlike his brother, he didn't have any foresight. Depending on the version, Epimetheus either disregards the humans as it was his brother's work. Or he just horribly managed the favours they were supposed to distribute. So when it was the turn of the humans to be blessed, he had none left. 

 Thief of Fire

Due to his favourite creation was left in the mud (no pun intended), Prometheus was understandably saltier than Salacia, goddess of salt. So, he decided to take matters into his own hands and give the fire to humans.  Said fire was located in Hephaestus's forge, being the god of fire on top of being a blacksmith, but this was easier said than done. Olympus, the bastion of the gods, contained the forge. This small detail made stealing the fire was not an easy task at all. Fortunately for us, Prometheus was also a clever Titan as well as a notorious trickster, as stated in the last post, which makes him a bit like Loki for Asgard.  Anyway, to distract everyone, he threw a golden spear, or sometimes an apple, in the courtyard of Olympus with a message saying, "For the most beautiful goddess of all." In their great wisdom, the goddesses decided to hold a contest to select the most beautiful. Wait no, they fought each other like a bunch of five years old over the spear. And the surrounding gods, finding the spectacle quite amusing, just stood around laughing on the ground.  Prometheus rushed to the forge with everyone distracted, took the fire, and left Olympus with his prised. He then delivered the fire to the human in a hollowed pumpkin. Wait a minute that sounds awfully familiar. 

Backlash 

When Zeus heard of this, how he did this is unknown, probably have to do with the fact that he is omniscient in the sky, he threw a tantrum. You see, this wasn't the first time Prometheus scammed the Olympians, and now he had enough of him. Again, similarly with Odin having enough of Loki and chaining him to a rock. As a Punishment, Zeus had Hephaestus chained the Titan to Mount Caucasus and sent a giant eagle to feed on his liver, who was named Caucasian Eagle. If that wasn't painful enough, Prometheus's immortal statue, being a Titan, prevented him from dying. This small detail means that he had to endure the bird-eating his liver every day of his life until the end of time. Speaking of being a tragic hero. He gave humans one of their most potent advantages over the animals. And in return, he was strapped to a rock and eaten alive by an eagle. But it can also be his Karma. After all, he did spend a lot of time messing around with the gods. And apparently, Loki didn't learn any lessons from this story. He would end up in the same situation, save for the bird, for the same reasons.