Before becoming the ruler of heaven, Zeus had to defeat his predecessor Cronos and the TITANS. In this war, the Titanomachy, Prometheus 1, although being a titan, sided with Zeus, who is seen in the picture brandishing the thunderbolt against his enemies.

Prometheus 1 moulded man out of water and earth. And since these elements would not suffice, Athena, here among the clouds, animated the moulded man by giving him a soul.

When Zeus became ruler in heaven, he purposed to destroy the race of mankind that Prometheus 1 had created. It was then that Prometheus 1, out of compassion for that wretched breed of mortals, planted blind hope in their hearts, and having stolen fire from heaven—which he hid in a stalk of fennel—, gave it to men.

Having stolen fire from heaven, Prometheus 1 gave it to men, teaching them many arts and handicrafts. For this, humanity has often regarded the titan as a "benefactor". Yet humans rapidly made a habit of employing Prometheus 1's gift to cook and burn one another in various ways.

For this audacious deed, Prometheus 1 paid a high price, being severely punished by the Zeus, who ordered Hephaestus to nail Prometheus 1's body to Mount Caucasus. On a rock in that mountain, Prometheus 1 was kept bound for many years. And every day an eagle swooped on him and devoured the lobes of his liver, which grew by night as much as the eagle had devoured during the day. After thirty thousand years of torture, Heracles 1 was sent to kill the eagle that ate Prometheus 1's heart or liver, and release the prisoner.

Being a Titan, Prometheus 1 should be immortal by birth. Yet, some affirm that Prometheus 1 was granted immortality, after Heracles 1 shot the Centaur Chiron with a poisoned arrow. The wound proved incurable, and Chiron wished to die, but being immortal, he could not. It was then that Prometheus 1 offered himself to Zeus to be immortal in his stead, and the request being granted by the god, Chiron died and Prometheus 1 obtained immortality.

"You also, dear father, who are now immortal and destined by the law of birth to last through all the ages, shall some day long for power to die, when you will be in agony with all your limbs burning with the fatal Hydra's blood. But at last, from immortal the gods shall make you capable of death, and the three goddesses shall loose your thread." [Ocyrrhoe 2 to Chiron. Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.649]

Web GML