When Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, was young and trying to establish his rule, he was challenged by a group of ferocious Titans, who tried to keep him from gaining power. A long and terrible war ensued, with all the Olympian gods joined against the Titans, who were led by Zeus' father Cronus and mighty Atlas.

After ten years of fighting, and with the help of the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires (The Hundred-Handed-Ones), Zeus and his fellow Olympians defeated the enemy. Only a few Titans, particularly Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus, fought on the side of Zeus, against their fellow Titans.  

You see, Prometheus was very wise - wiser even than most of the gods - and foresaw the winner of the battle between the Olympians and the Titans. He persuaded his impulsive brother Epimetheus to also fight on the side of Zeus against gigantic Atlas and his army. Once Zeus emerged victorious he granted the brothers some just rewards.

Zeus permitted Prometheus and Epimetheus to populate the earth with creatures and humans. Epimetheus (he wasn't too bright and his name means "Afterthought" ) foolishly gave all the good qualities to the creatures: Strength and speed, the ability to fly, to stay warm in all conditions, to possess a keen sense of smell, superb cunning and instinct, to live underwater...

Sadly, when it came time for Man to be endowed with qualities, there were very few left. The scatterbrain Epimetheus had given away all the goods to the creatures so that there was no quality to make Man a match for the beasts. Desperate and sorry, he begged his brother for help. Prometheus (he was wise and his name means "Forethought" ) took over the task of creation and considered ways to make humans superior.

WISE PROMETHEUS

When the goddess of wisdom Athena was born out of the head of Zeus, Prometheus (or some say Hephaestus) assisted in the "delivery". Wise Athena then taught Prometheus mathematics, navigation, astronomy, architecture, medicine and many other arts. That's how Prometheus got to be so smart. Along with his ability to foresee the future, that made him a formidable Titan.

Prometheus had created humans in the likeness of gods, using the clay and water of Panopeus, and Athena had breathed a living soul into them. To compensate for the lack of great qualities, which had foolishly all been given to the creatures by Epimetheus, the wise Titan made Man stand upright like the gods, to be noble and conscious, and to hold his head high, looking up at the heavens.

As yet there were no mortal women on the earth. That came later, as we will see.

Prometheus passed onto Man the useful arts taught him by Athena and looked with joy upon his creation:

FIRE RETURNED

Prometheus arranged a meeting with Athena and beseeched her for help. The wise and gracious Athena kindly revealed to Prometheus a hidden backstairs entrance to Olympus and he gained entrance to the Palace of the gods, one of few to do so.

Upon arriving he lit a torch from the fiery chariot of the sun god, as Helios passed by. Breaking off a fragment of glowing charcoal, he hid the fire inside the hollow of a giant fennel-stalk. Blowing out his torch in case he was spotted by Zeus, Prometheus then worked his way down the side of Mount Olympus.

And what a perilous journey it was! The rebel Prometheus, who had taken such a personal risk for Man, now was faced with getting the fire back down to earth. The winds howled as he strode down the mountain, threatening to blow out the coal, or huff it out of his hand. With each step he took, the Titan fully expected to be seen by Zeus and to be struck dead with one of his killer thunderbolts.

Illustration by Willy Pogany, from The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived before Achilles, 1921, by Padraic Colum (1881–1972)

But Prometheus made it to earth and proudly gave the fire to the humans, who were overjoyed, needless to say. Soon Zeus smelled the tantalizing scent of cooked meat drifting up to Olympus from earth and when he looked down he was outraged! There were the humans he had supposedly punished, happily cooking their food and keeping warm around their fires. Zeus was furious!

Then men were able to hammer iron into tools, and cut down forests with axes, and sow grain where the forests had been. Then were they able to make houses that the storms could not overthrow, and they were able to warm themselves at hearth fires. They had rest from their labor at times. They built cities; they became beings who no longer had heads and backs bent but were able to raise their faces even to the gods."
by Padraic Colum, from "The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived Before Achilles"

(It must be noted that, along with all the advantages that fire bestowed upon humanity, it also brought many ills. Out of the flaming forge emerged cruel weapons of war, along with all the attendant miseries that follow the disruption of a simple way of life.)

REVENGE OF ZEUS

That was twice that Prometheus had made the King of the Olympians look bad and this time Zeus was not holding back any punches. Forgetting all that Prometheus had done for him in the war against the Titans, Zeus had our hero arrested. He summoned from the Underworld the three ferocious Giants, his thugs Gyes, Cottus, and Briareus, and had them take Prometheus to the highest peak of Mount Caucasus.

On a huge rock the Giants bound the Titan with unbreakable adamantine chains, according to the ancient poet Hesiod from his book "Theogony" (Birth of the Gods):

To a high-piercing, headlong rock
In adamantine chains that none can break.

This is what the brutes told Prometheus, again from Hesiod's "Theogony":

Forever shall the intolerable present grind you down
And he who will release you is not born
Such fruit you reap for your man-loving ways.
A god yourself, you did not dread God's anger,
But gave to mortals honor not their due.
And therefore you must guard this joyless rock --
No rest, no sleep, no moment's respite.
Groans shall your speech be, lamentation your only words.

Some say that Zeus's henchmen, Force and Power, were the ones who escorted Prometheus to the peak, and that the smith god, Hephaestus, was the one who applied the chains, albeit reluctantly. Here is Hephaestus, in Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus:

Evermore the burden of your present ill shall wear you out;
for your deliverer is not yet born.

Such is the prize you have gained for your championship of man.
For, god though you are, you did not fear the wrath of the gods,
  but you bestowed honors upon mortal creatures beyond their due.

Therefore on this joyless rock you must stand sentinel, erect,
sleepless, your knee unbent. And many a groan and unavailing
lament you shall utter; for the heart of Zeus is hard,
and everyone is harsh whose power is new.

As if that wasn't bad enough, each day an enormous eagle (some say a vulture), sent by Zeus, would arrive and eat at Prometheus' liver, feasting on the helpless Titan. To make matters worse, the liver would grow back overnight and the whole ordeal would be repeated the following day. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment!

"O you bright sky of heaven, you swift-winged breezes, you river-waters, and infinite laughter of the waves of ocean, O universal mother Earth , and you, all-seeing orb of the sun, to you I call! See what I, a god, endure from the gods." from Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus

For thirty years (some say one thousand, or even thirty thousand years) Prometheus endured this excruciating pain and torment. Being a god he couldn't die, hence his ordeal could not be eased. At one point Zeus offered him a chance to free himself by revealing information that Prometheus knew. Since our hero had the power of Foresight, he knew the name of the one who would overthrow Zeus, just like Zeus had done to Cronus. The King of the Olympians promised Prometheus that he would set him free if only the Titan revealed the identity of his potential usurper.

Nothing doing. Stubborn Prometheus informed the Messenger god Hermes, who had delivered Zeus' offer, to tell his boss to go fly a kite. He couldn't be bribed.

"Go and persuade the sea wave not to break.
You will persuade me no more easily."

Talk about a rebel! Prometheus was the kind of guy you'd want on your side in a brawl! He was tough and his morals were uncompromising. Even though his body was bound, his spirit was free and the Titan refused to buckle to Zeus' threats, torture and tyranny. Here's what he told Hermes:

There is no force which can compel my speech.
So let Zeus hurl his blazing bolts,
And with the white wings of the snow,
With thunder and with earthquake,
Confound the reeling world.
None of this will bend my will."
Hesiod, "Theogony"

The Torture of Prometheus, Gustave Moreau, 1868

PROMETHEUS UNBOUND

Zeus felt bad. He wasn't a mean-spirited god, after all, and deep down he admired Prometheus for sticking to his ideals. So he offered a slim glimmer of hope to our hero: Zeus told the Titan that he could go free if two conditions were met:

1) An Immortal would have to give up his life for Prometheus
2) A mortal would have to slay the liver-eating eagle

Small consolation, thought Prometheus...What Immortal would ever give up his life for a Titan, he mused, and besides, there was no mortal brave and strong enough to kill the evil beast that feasted on his liver. Unrepentant for his actions, and fully aware that he had done the right thing in stealing fire from Olympus and giving it to Man, Prometheus was resigned to eternal life on the rocks, so to speak.

Prometheus Bound By Christian Schussele, 1824-1879

But wait! Our story has a happy ending. You see, the Centaur (half man, half horse) named Chiron, a wise and Immortal mentor of many Greek heroes, had been accidentally shot and wounded by one of Heracles' (Hercules) poisoned arrows. The arrows were deadly, having being dipped in the blood of the dying Hydra. But being an Immortal, the gentle Centaur could not die, but lived in horrid pain from the lethal poison.

Hearing of the plight of courageous Prometheus, Chiron volunteered to die in his stead so that his unbearable pain would cease, at the same time conferring his immortality upon the chained Titan. It was a mutually beneficial move and fulfilled the first part of Zeus' terms. Now, where could be found a mortal hero brave enough to challenge the ferocious eagle?

Have no fear, Heracles is here! Passing by Mount Caucasus one day the world's greatest hero, mighty Heracles, saw Prometheus bound to the rock, with the frightful eagle merrily munching on his liver. This would not do! Heracles was famous for always taking the side of the just, the powerless and the overwhelmed.

Armed with his bow and arrows, gifts from the gods, mighty Heracles took aim and let fly a missile at the beast. Bingo! One shot was all it took and the Titan's tormentor became buzzard feed itself, killed instantly by the poisoned arrow...

Heracles Arrives Unexpectedly to Liberate Prometheus - Athens Archaeological Museum

Prometheus was now free to go! By this time Zeus had realized his folly in imposing such a stern sentence upon the brave Titan, so he invited Prometheus to come and live on Mount Olympus. All was forgiven and our hero rejoined his rightful place at the home of the gods.

Zeus did make Prometheus wear a ring, in which a piece of the Caucasus rock was set, as a symbol of his painful connection with the mountain. This represented the first ring to have a setting, and ever since humans have worn rings in honor of the Titan, in gratitude for all the agony he had endured on their behalf.

"No hard feelings. By the way, Prometheus, any chance of you telling me the name of the one who will overthrow me?" asked Zeus.

"Forget it, Big Guy!" replied our hero, a rebel to the end...

But just to show that he harbored no grudge, Prometheus eventually did tell Zeus and Poseidon, who were both pursuing a sea nymph named Thetis, to avoid the girl at all costs. Prometheus informed the Olympian gods that the son of Thetis would grow up to become mightier than his father. A thankful Zeus promptly ordered Thetis to marry a mortal named Peleus and their offspring was the great hero of the Trojan War, Achilles, who indeed achieved a fame far surpassing that of his father.

Before his divine punishment Prometheus married Hesione, and is said to have conceived Oceanus with her. He is also considered to have been the father of Deucalion and in some cases is described as the brother of the Titans Atlas and Menoetius, as well as the foolish Epimetheus.

The name of brave Prometheus has endured throughout the ages as the world's first rebel and the champion of humanity. He fought against divine authority for his ideals and ultimately paid a heavy price for his Foresight.

Aren't you glad he did, though? 

EPILOGUE

After Zeus imposed the horrible punishment upon Prometheus he then followed that up with a similar infliction upon Man, whom the Titan had created. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to craft a gorgeous female out of clay. She was to be called Pandora (All-Gifted) and she would be the world's first mortal woman.

Meant as a bride for foolish Epimetheus, Pandora would unleash countless evils upon humanity. Poor Pandora had everything, you see. But she also was cursed by the gods with Curiosity, and that proved to be her undoing.

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