The Origin of Work: Prometheus and Civilization, University Notes

Understanding and Interpreting Promethean Myth and its Symbolism

Origin of Humanity and Relationship with Work, Labor, Knowledge, Suffering, Rebellion

1. Understanding and interpreting Promethean myth and its symbolism: Origin of humanity and relationship with work, labor, knowledge, suffering, rebellion

Trick at the Mecone

A)

B)

"trick at the Mecone"

• Understanding, what happens:

  • Zeus: want mortals/human beings to go away and create a new race
  • Prometheus: wants the mankind to survive
  • Meal at Mecone gods with mortals
  • Prometheus divides the meal, using his skills in trickery. He sacrifices an ox and creates two piles; one with the bones hidden under a good looking appetizer and the other with the meat/edible part covered with the stomach (unappealing)
  • Zeus chooses the pile of bones and is enraged and hides the celestial fire from the humans
    • this prevents human beings from cooking

Interpreting Myth & Symbols

• interpreting myth & symbols:

  • before the trick: humans and gods were united, the only difference was mortality. Humans didn't had to labor for their food nor needed protection. Death was seen as a sweet sleep. the trick: makes the humans conscious of their mortality. They rot, compared to the gods who are immortal.
  • after the trick: Zeus hides the fire from the humans: and now they are equal as animals, don't cook.
    • bones: symbolize the gods, eternal, do not decay or change, represent the immortality meat: is useful for humans, rots, just like humans, decay, represent mortality, that life is temporary, means life and death simultaneously. (humans must consume and work)
    • Fire: is what makes humans different from animals, humans can cook their food, and it provides warmth
    • Zeus takes the fire away: now humans are equal as animals (eat raw meat). Life was cold, hard and full of effort
    • labor: humans needed to labor, and work hard to survive,
    • knowledge: mankind learn through their work/hardship

The Stealing of Fire

C) "the stealing of fire"

• Understanding what happens:

  • Zeus, falling into Prometheus's trap, becomes angry. As punishment, he hides the heavenly fire from them so that humans cannot cook their meat.
  • Prometheus, being the creator of humans, determinedly steals Zeus's fire and hides it. Thus, humans obtain/receive Prometheus's fire.
  • Zeus, becoming even more angry, promises that he will give humanity a gift that will make them happy but at the same time miserable.
  • Prometheus receives two different types of punishment: 1. He is tied to the top of a mountain where every night an eagle will eat his liver, which regenerates every night for 30 days. 2. He has to create a bride with the face of a goddess with earth and water, who will receive gifts from many gods, naming her Pandora. Epimetheus, already advised by his brother Prometheus, accepts Zeus' gift and before it is too late, he opens the jar of Pandora, letting all sorts of evil free.

Interpreting Symbols and Myth

• interpreting symbols and myth:

  • Fire: central symbol of the myth, it stands for intelligence, creative power, and the beginning of culture and science. It marks the moment humans become independent thinkers
  • Pandora: gift to humanity, but in truth, she is a trap. She symbolizes the double-edging or the duality; capable of being good and bad or in both ways.
  • Prometheus: Prometheus is a symbol of the human spirit; rebellion and sacrifice
  • Zeus: Zeus symbolizes the fear of change and the desire of those in power to keep knowledge to themselves. He also symbolizes power and control.
  • The punishments: This represents the eternal suffering that can come with seeking truth or going against the ones that have knowledge or power.
  • The myth teaches that human progress (through fire) is powerful but dangerous. It brings freedom and culture, but also pain and responsibility. The story warns that seeking knowledge can lead to suffering, yet it also honors those, like Prometheus, who dare to give humanity the tools to grow.
  • What happened before ?: In the Prometheus hiding game, Zeus chooses poorly and falls for the trick. Angry, he hides fire from humanity to teach them a lesson, forcing them to work for their own food.

Origins of Humanity

• What does it suggest about the origins of humanity?

  • The myth suggests that the origin of humanity is a mix of rebellion, divine punishment, and resilience. Humans were created with weakness, yet gifted with intelligence (fire). They were cursed with suffering, yet given the power of hope.
  • Prometheus as the creator of humans; Prometheus is the one that molds the clay into humans, giving them shape and life. They are a handmade creation. They are born from rebellion?
  • The gift of fire to humanity: By stealing the fire and giving it to the humans,
  • Prometheus ables the humans to cook, creates tools, and progresses in technology and culture.
  • Pandora's appearance as the first act of suffering: Zeus makes Prometheus create Pandora as a punishment for the theft of fire. When he opens the jar, all the evils and hardships (sickness, aging, labor, death) are released into the world. Pandora's story explains why humans suffer and links that suffering directly to the gifts they received.
  • Hope: Even after the bad aspects come out of the jar, the only one that stays is Hope, symbolizing that even though human life is hard, humans are not hopeless. They suffer, but they still believe in something better.

Relationship with Work, Labor, Rebellion, Suffering and Knowledge

• Relationship with work, labor, rebellion, suffering and knowledge

  • Rebellion > knowledge (fire): Prometheus rebels against Zeus by stealing fire and giving it to humans. This act gives humans knowledge, including the ability to cook, build, invent, and create. But this rebellion also challenges divine authority, suggesting that progress comes from breaking limits.
  • Knowledge > work and labor: Once humans have fire, they can begin building civilization. But now they must work: build homes, forge tools, cook food-labor becomes part of life. The gods no longer provide everything freely; humans must earn their survival.
  • Work and labor -> suffering: Zeus punishes humanity by sending Pandora, whose jar unleashes all the sufferings of life: disease, old age, hard labor, pain, death. Now, life includes struggle, and even though humans have fire, they also carry burdens.
  • Suffering -> Hope: Despite all this, Hope remains in the jar. This means that while humans must live with suffering, work, and consequences of rebellion, they still have the strength to dream.

The Gift of Pandora

Understanding the Myth

Zeus rages at Prometheus for stealing the fire. Gives two punishments

1. punishment: Prometheus chained to Mount Caucasus for 30.000 thousand years. Everyday an eagle will eat his liver, which will regenerate every night.
2. punishment: the creation of Pandora. a beautiful bride. Mythological gods give her gifts. (all beautiful) Hermes gives her -- > shameless mind, deceitful nature, lies and a crafty speech.

pandora: combination of evil and deceit hidden behind beauty and grace.

Pandora receives a Jar and is advised not to open it.

Epimetheus (prometheus brother) accepts the Gift of Pandora (even though Protmeteus told him to never accept anything from Zeus) -- > Big mistake

Pandora Opens The Jar -- > all sorts of evil (strife, disease, jealousy and deceit) have been scattered amongst mankind. Only Hope stays in the Jar with Pandora.

Symbolism of the Myth

Pandora symbolizes outer beauty hiding inner deceit and danger.

The jar represents forbidden knowledge and human curiosity.

Opening the jar marks the origin of all human suffering (pain, illness, conflict).

Hope remaining inside symbolizes humanity's resilience and last comfort.

The myth shows that a divine gift can be both a blessing and a curse.

human is "perfect", "inmortal" by nature -- > John Locke

Analyzing How the Myth Frames Work Symbolically as Both Punishment and Progress

How Does This Myth Reflect Early Cultural Values Related to Labor, Work, Civilization, Institutions?

1. Analyzing how the myth frames work symbolically as both punishment and progress. How does this myth reflect early cultural values related to labor, work, civilization, institutions?

Work as Punishment

At first, work in the Promethean myth is clearly framed as a divine punishment. When Prometheus defies Zeus by stealing fire and giving it to humans, he breaks a cosmic law. In response, Zeus punishes both Prometheus and humanity. He has Prometheus chained to a rock for eternity, and he sends Pandora to Earth, bringing with her a jar filled with all the misfortunes of human life: sickness, aging, sorrow, and struggle. When the jar is opened, these evils are unleashed upon the world, forcing humans to have appetite and thirst, and suffer from cold and hot temperatures as well as diseases. Making work and suffering a part of everyday existence, to solve their needs.

In this way, work is seen as a curse, a heavy burden that humans have to carry. It's not a gift from the gods, but a daily struggle filled with pain, tiredness, and the need to survive. Just like Adam and Eve had to work after disobeying God, people in the Prometheus myth are punished with hard lives after receiving fire. The myth suggests that the price of rebellion is labor.

> [ADDED INFO] The gift of fire also marks the end of the Golden Age, a time when humans lived without necessity (Anake) or even death, which was then like falling into a deep sleep. After fire, humans were no longer carefree-they had to accept necessity, experience hunger, and reconstruct their environment to survive. The gift of fire made work not only possible but inescapable.

> [ADDED INFO] Zeus's punishment was not only chaining Prometheus, but also sending woman-Pandora-as a deceptive gift to mankind. In some interpretations, she is described as a second fire: beautiful but consuming, a source of endless worry and early aging for men.

Work as Progress

The very act that brings punishment also brings potential. When Prometheus steals fire, he doesn't just bring warmth. He brings the foundation of civilization: the ability to cook, forge tools, build cities, create art, and develop technology. Fire becomes a symbol of human civilizations, a way for humans to shape their environment, rather than remain helpless in the face of nature.

In this sense, work becomes empowerment. It's through labor that humans invent, construct, explore, and grow. Through hard work humans overcome or try to overcome every day, all the evils that were brought to them in pandoras box. Without the gift of fire, there would be no culture, no progress, no history. The myth tells us that while work may be hard, it is also what makes us human.