Prometheus, << proh MEE thee uhs, >> in Greek myths, was a member of the earliest race of gods, called Titans. Prometheus’ father was Iapetus, and his mother was either Themis or Clymene.
The god Zeus plotted to destroy humanity by depriving the earth of fire. Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to human beings. Zeus punished him by ordering him bound to a remote peak in the Caucasus Mountains. An eagle came to devour Prometheus’ liver every day, and the liver grew back each night. After Prometheus had suffered for many centuries, the hero Hercules killed the eagle and set Prometheus free.
The Greek poet Hesiod described Prometheus as a trickster and a troublemaker. The Greek dramatist Aeschylus presented him as a tragic hero and a champion of humanity in his tragedy Prometheus Bound. The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley created works inspired by the Prometheus myth.
