Prometheus

“	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.

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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 younger brother of Atlas, who was banished to Tartarus during the Titanomachy. Prometheus, however, sided with the gods in the war, 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 Great War, 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. Heracles eventually killed the eagle and freed Prometheus, which Zeus allowed as he deemed Prometheus' suffering sufficient.

It was also due to this 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.

Trivia

• Prometheus was voiced by Alan Oppenheimer.
• Just like Rhea, Prometheus is much smaller than other Titans and looks more human or godlike.
• 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', Lapetus' 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.
• 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 Greek figure Kratos, by the order of Hephaestus. 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 figure.
• Although Kratos has killed many a soul in the God of War series, Prometheus is the only one who explicitly requested to die.
• In myth, he tries to persuade Atlas and their father, Iapetus to switch sides to the Olympians, but they refused.
• In Greek mythology, Prometheus was freed by Hercules during one of his labors.
• It is strange that Prometheus even knew that Kratos were a god, in his own words, he said that he did not even know how long he had been punished for, and seems that Kratos reign was not a long one. Possibly, Prometheus "betrayed" Zeus years and years before Kratos' birth, and assuming that he stayed all this time alone, he may not even know about the existence of Kratos.

Gallery

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Related Pages

• Titans
• Fires of Olympus
• Rage of the Titans