Prometheus.
"When I took the Fires of Olympus to the mortals, Zeus considered it a betrayal. As punishment, he made me mortal and condemed 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." - Prometheus
Greek Mythology
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan whose name means "forethought". Prometheus, an archetypal "trickster"-god, is wiser than even the gods and considered a culture-hero, i.e. a helper of mankind. He 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 witheld it from them. As punishment however, Zeus then chained him to a mountain to have his liver savagely devoured by a giant Eagle, only to have it regenerated through the night. Herakles eventually killed the eagle and freed Prometheus. It was aslo 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.
He is the younger brother of Atlas who was banished to Tartarus during the Titanomachy. Prometheus, however, sided with the gods in the war along with Helios and Epimetheus. 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.
In God of War II
On his way to the Island of Creation, Kratos comes to the mountainous Lair of Typhon. There he finds Prometheus chained in his torment, and Prometheus tells him his story of how he helped mankind but was then punished by Zeus. Prometheus begs Kratos to release him from his torment, so Kratos attempts, but Prometheus falls and ends up getting caught in a chain noose over the flames. In order to free Prometheus, Kratos had to obtain the power of Typhon's Bane. Once he did, he used it to release Prometheus, and he burned to death in the Fires of Olympus. Upon his death, Gaia gave Kratos his ashes, giving him the Rage of the Titans power.
Trivia
- Prometheus was voiced by Allen 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, with Helios and Epimetheus sided with the gods, betraying his fellow Titans, including his brother who lead the Titans. It is unknown whether he fought his brother and it is also unknown what Atlas' reaction was when he found out of his brother's death.
- 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 uses 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 [1] What makes this interesting is that, while probably coincidence, 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.
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