This article contains lore based on real-life sources of the Greek mythology as introduced from the God of War Greek era.
| “ | My only crime was helping mankind. When I took the Fires of Olympus to the mortals, Zeus considered it a betrayal. As punishment, he made me mortal and condemned me to be savagely consumed every day by this cursed bird, and then, with the fall of night, I am healed. ...How long have I been here? How long have I suffered this curse? I truly do not know... Please, Ghost of Sparta! Release me from my torment! | ” |
–Prometheus. | ||
Prometheus (Προμηθεύς) is the Titan God of Forethought, Knowledge, Crafty Counsel, Fire and Creator of Mankind. He is known as a great hero and individual of great wisdom and kindness. He stole fire from the Gods and brought it to the mankind. For this, he was cruelly and unfairly punished by Zeus. Zeus made Prometheus mortal and enchained him on the rocks near Lair of Typhon. Every day, a big white eagle flew to Prometheus and ate his liver, and during the night his liver regrew, and the next day the eagle returned and continued Prometheus's torture indefinitely. Prometheus was eventually freed by Kratos, when Prometheus asked Kratos to sacrifice him and end his suffering. Prometheus appears in God of War II.
Prometheus concept art.
Greek Mythology
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan whose name meant "forethought", and indeed, he was said to have the ability to look into the future. Prometheus, an archetypal "trickster"-god, is wiser than even the gods and considered a culture-hero, i.e. a helper of mankind.
He is the older brother of Atlas, who was banished to Tartarus during the Titanomachy. Prometheus, however, sided with the gods in the war against the Titans, having foreseen their victory. Helios and Epimetheus also chose to defect. In doing so, Prometheus also tried to persuade his brother Atlas and their father Iapetus to side with the Olympians, but both of them ignored his attempts.
After the Titanomachy, Prometheus fashioned man from clay and helped them, even to the point of severely angering Zeus. It was Prometheus who gave the Fires of Olympus to the mortals after Zeus withheld it from them. As punishment however, Zeus then chained him to a mountain for an Eagle to peck out his liver only to have it regenerated through the night; this torment was to last at least 30,000 years, or until someone willingly took upon Prometheus' punishment and died as a result. Heracles eventually killed the eagle and freed Prometheus, with Chiron taking on his punishment as it was the only thing that could end his suffering. However, Prometheus then had to wear an iron ring with a chunk of the same mountain he was chained upon, to allow Zeus to brag how his enemy was (symbolically) "still shackled to the rock of Caucasus".
It was also due to his act of theft that Pandora was created and given to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus ("afterthought"), in order to make life difficult for man and to release all the evils upon the world.
In God of War series
Early life
Prometheus was a second generation Titan, son of Iapetus and brother to Atlas and Epimetheus. The Titan was known to be quick witted and creative. It was he who created mankind during the Age of the Titans. Prometheus cherished his mortal creations, desiring their betterment and unhindered development in harmony with nature and the deities. During the Golden Age, humanity lived a blissful existence together with Prometheus and his fellow Titans.
While Prometheus' creations thrived under the rule of his king and uncle Cronos, all was not well for the ruler of the world, as it was his fate to be overthrown by his own children. One day, his youngest son Zeus, who was rescued and nurtured in secret by Gaia has confronted his father and freed his five siblings, immediatly starting the fated struggle between the Titan Lord Cronos and his children. The mighty Atlas, one of Prometheus' brothers became the General of the Titans, desiring to preserve the Golden Age.
Defection to the Olympians
However, the young Gods would not stand alone against Cronos' forces, with a significant number of titanic and primordial deities joining the Olympian ranks and following Zeus, the leader of the uprising. Prometheus, knowing that this is the will of the Fates and through his own oracular gifts, deemed it impossible for Cronos and those loyal to him to emerge victorious in this great and terrible war. The Titan of Foresight made the decision at some point to defect to the Olympians, betraying his father, his brothers and his king in order to end up on the winning side, whose victory was long since fated.
Imprisonment
The Olympians won the Great War and the majority of the Titans ended up banished to Tartarus. Prometheus, like his cousin Helios and others such as Iris and Eos was welcomed into the new pantheon and honoured for his role in the hard fought victory. However, Zeus, the new King of the Gods was far less benevolent when it came to the well being of the small mortals living on the Earth below.
With the end of the Titan's reign, the earth, already ravaged by the brutal war between the Gods and the Titans has stopped providing the endless abundance of food that it did during the rule of Cronos. In addition to that, Zeus and the Olympians had significantly higher demands of worship and tributes from the mortals than the Titans did before them. Overall, as the Age of Olympus continued, the future of mankind did not look very promising which led to Prometheus trying to appeal to Zeus and eventually starting a conflict between the two, leading to Zeus withholding fire from mankind, which essentially condemned it to forever live in primitive conditions and being vulnerable to the dangers of the night.
In turn, the crafty Titan stole the Primordial Fire from the Caves of Olympus and bestowed it onto the mortal world, which directly defied the will of Zeus. The King of the Gods, furious at such insolence and defiance considered it a betrayal. Zeus has stripped the Titan of his immortality and divinity and sentenced him to be enchained on the outside of Mount Etna, on the hand of the imprisoned Storm Titan Typhon where he would be savagely consumed every day by a giant eagle for all eternity.
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Prometheus is mentioned in a lore marker in the Caves of Olympus, on the approaches to the Primordial Fire where the story of his daring theft of the fire is told.
God of War II
During Kratos' journey to the Sisters of Fate, he goes through the Lair of Typhon, a snowy mountain where the Titan Typhon is imprisoned. After Typhon trapped Pegasus under his hand, Kratos needed to venture through the mountain to find a way to release it, so he could continue his journey.
He eventually finds Prometheus at a part of this mountain, enchained to the other hand of Typhon and with a big white eagle eating his liver. The bird flies away after Kratos arrives, and he dialogues with Prometheus about the reason of his torture. He tells that it was Zeus who placed him there after he gave the Fires of Olympus to the mortals, Zeus would make Prometheus mortal, and that every day the white eagle would eat his liver, only for it to be healed at night.
He asks Kratos to release him from his torment, and the Spartan manages to hit him until he falls from the hand, however his chain keeps hanging him above the Fires of Olympus. Prometheus continuously begs Kratos to kill him by burning him in the Fires, but since Kratos couldn't reach the chain to destroy it and make him fall, he continues to venture in the mountain.
After acquiring Typhon's Bane, Kratos goes back to Prometheus and shoots him and his chain, breaking the chain and making him fall. Prometheus falls on the Fires and screams with pain before finally falling dead. His ashes were taken by Kratos, giving him the fiery power of the titans, which he used to free Pegasus and continue his quest to the Sisters.
God of War II Novel
As Kratos explored the freezing cavern, he eventually heard a desperate scream for help. Curious and in search of a fire to warm himself, the Spartan reckoned that anyone on the outside of the mountain would have a fire place, since it would be impossible to survive otherwise in the cold. Kratos approached the sounds, when he recognized them to be agonizing screams of pain and cries for mercy. As he came closer he saw pieces of flesh and streams of blood surrounding a giant bird, who greedily and mercilessly devoured its victim, who was chained with hands held high, stretching out the abdomen to provide the savage eagle with an easier meal.
The bird took note of Kratos approaching the scene and took to the skies after an incurious glance at the White Warrior. The Spartan took a long look at the mangled body before his eyes, recognizing the brilliance of the torture before asking the man who had placed him in this torment, with the answer not surprising the fallen god. Prometheus introduced himself and recounted his story and version of events regarding his imprisonment, as he did in the game.
After hearing the old Titan's story and plea for release, it did not take long for the former God of War to decide to honour this request, seeing common ground and sympathy with Prometheus in how he has suffered at Zeus' hands. He would offer a wounded Spartan comrade no less on the battlefield, and the "release" of such a high profile prisoner would be a satisfactory affront against the King of the Gods and his rule. However, first he had to get Typhon's Bane from the eye of the belligerent Titan in order to sever the Fire Giver from his chains and let him fall into the Fires of Olympus.
Upon gaining the magical Bow, Kratos had returned to Prometheus who was relieved that the Spartan did not abandon him. Kratos asked him how to escape this mountain in order to defeat Zeus, to which the Titan replied that he will let him know after he releases him into the Fires below. Trusting his word, Kratos fired the icy arrows at the chains, breaking them. As he burned, Prometheus bestowed the Rage of the Titans onto the Ghost of Sparta, along with the innate knowledge on how to escape the freezing mountain prison.
Trivia
- Prometheus was voiced by Alan Oppenheimer.
- Just like Rhea, Prometheus is much smaller than other Titans and looks more human or godlike (Which might be the result of Zeus making him Mortal).
- In God of War II, he states he gave the Fires of Olympus to humanity, but in God of War: Chains of Olympus, it is stated that he gave the Primordial Fire to humanity.
- Prometheus is the brother of Atlas. In the Great War, he, along with Helios and Epimetheus sided with the gods, betraying his fellow Titans, including his brother who lead the Titans. It is unknown what Atlas', Iapetus' and Epimetheus' reaction are when they found out of Prometheus' death. Given Prometheus' betrayal, it is likely that Atlas and Iapetus are indifferent about it.
- Gaia also had no real comment on his situation and demise, neither in the game or its novelization besides mentioning the effect that his death had on the Fires of Olympus, and in turn the Rage of the Titans which was bestowed on Kratos.
- In mythology, Prometheus sided with the Olympians because he received a prophecy from Themis that the Titans wouldn't win the war after all, because they used brute strength rather than tactics, strategies and technologies.
- According to Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, Prometheus was shackled to his eternal torture by the mythological Greek figure Kratos (the Authority, Strength); one of the two servants of Hephaestus (the other being Bia, the Violence, Force). What makes this interesting is that in the story of God of War II, Prometheus is freed, and then killed, by Kratos, who bears both similarities (in name and physical prowess) and contradictions (allegiance to the Olympian Gods) to the mythological Kratos.
- Although Kratos has killed many a soul in the God of War series, Prometheus is one of three people who explicitly requested Kratos to kill him. The second person, was Orkos, who, chronologically speaking, was the first with this request and the third would later be Mimir in God of War (2018).
- In Greek mythology, he tries to persuade Atlas and their father, Iapetus to switch sides to the Olympians, but they refused. It is unknown if he did the same prior to the Titanomachy.
- In Greek mythology, Prometheus was freed by Hercules during one of his labors.
- It is odd that Prometheus knows so much about Kratos, seeing his isolation and torment that likely have been going for decades. This could indicate that despite being made mortal, Prometheus still possessed certain powers, allowing him to see beyond the walls of his prison.
- It is in line with Greek Mythology, where Prometheus still retained his awareness and even oracular abilities while in his exile in the Caucasus, with some deities like Zeus himself visiting him and asking him about the future or discussing current events like Oceanus when he visited his doomed nephew.
- In mythology, he creates humankind out of clay. It is unknown whether he fulfills this role in the God of War universe as well.
- Given his kindness and care towards them, it is assumed that he is.
Gallery
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||