Skip to main content

The Gift of Fire~ Logan Turner

 Okay, can we talk about the story of Prometheus for a second? I'm sure we all knew the story even before reading it, but the story is just so immensely messed up it blows my mind. For one thing, why was Prometheus the only one who liked humans enough to give us the gift of fire? Shouldn't Hephaestus been the one to give humans fire? After all, he is the god of fire. 

Prometheus' punishment is far to extreme as well. I mean, he gives humanity fire, which literally allows us to create civilizations. But no, he is called the "Trickster god" for defying them.  It blows my mind that the Greeks probably saw him as someone evil or chaotic, instead of someone who was benevolent enough to give humans fire. Even still, his punishment is far too brutal and grotesque. I mean, getting his liver eaten LITERALLY every day is just cruel. The thing is, this kind of punishment would only work against a god, so can you imagine what it would be like to have to suffer that kind of torment every day just for being immortal. Whereas normal people would have died already, Prometheus not only continued to live, but his liver healed every day for the cycle to repeat itself. At least he eventually gets freed by Heracles.


Edit: Commented on Haley Riddle's and Caroline Tucker's posts

Comments

  1. Caroline TuckerOctober 19, 2020 at 8:57 PM

    I do think it is a bit extreme. However, I like to wonder why whoever created these stories decided that Prometheus would suffer. I believe it could be because the story is to remind the people how grateful they should be for the gift of fire. It teaches them to not take the gift for granted and make the most they can of it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rachael GregsonOctober 19, 2020 at 9:22 PM

    I really like this point of view. Since he was known to the humans as the "trickster god," maybe Prometheus had alternative motives for gifting humans fire? Maybe it was sort of "groveling" to them to earn their praise? Also, fire as a gift, that was definitely essential to human life during those times, but fire could also be a curse too. Fire could build villages up, or it could burn them down (literally!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Braylan StringfellowOctober 19, 2020 at 11:02 PM

    That is definitely a cruel punishment. That is straight up a what the heck moment on the gods part. When I read through that section, I had no idea what was happening, but now I know. I am also very grossed out now too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. IsabelleOctober 20, 2020 at 8:05 AM

    Interesting point. While Hephaestus is the god of fire, shouldn't the creator of the humans be the one to care for them? It seems like the immortals want humans to go extinct, between punishing the ones who help humans and sending a flood to wipe out the evil within the humans. Also, I am constantly surprised at the grotesque measures taken for punishment! They did Prometheus dirty. Why can't we all join hands and sing "Lean On Me" around a feast?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lovers of Wisdom, Not Power—Lily Caswell

In Book VIII of Plato’s Republic, Socrates talks about the possibility of having a well-governed city. However, he also talks about how that particular form of government is impossible to have. A well-governed city becomes a possibility only if you can discover a better way of life for your future rulers than holding office.” (Plato, p 215) Maybe his version of a better life was for those in office to not be lovers of power, since it would then become a fight among rival lovers. Socrates gets to the point that the only rulers who don’t love power are true philosophers. Philosophers are lovers of wisdom and knowledge and not power, ergo they are the perfect rulers. Absolute power corrupts and power corrupts absolutely, so I’m thinking that maybe the trick to being a good ruler is for you to be a philosophical person who loves wisdom and not power. I commented on Jamie’s and Isabelle’s posts.
4 comments
Read more

How to Make a Clone - Clabo

I found books three and four to be very cringy. I mean, to me the idea of structurally producing good soldiers/guardians through heavy censorship is somewhat inhumane. I feel as if human beings should be allowed to experience every bit of knowledge they can at some point in their lives. To me, it seems as if the guardians are being guarded against information throughout their entire lives so they can solely fulfill the duties they were birthed into.  However, the influence and importance Plato places on poetry and music do make me wonder what it would be like if we had the same values as our military today. What if the United States military invested in the souls of its soldiers and placed within them emotional and intellectual values outside of what they have learned previously. Perhaps the military instills values and principles within soldiers to fulfill the same purpose as the guardians would in Plato's Republic and that is to only be that which the government wants you to be....
5 comments
Read more

Dystopian Origins Uncovered ////// Isabelle Ferguson

  I think that ideas eventually run out of originality and circle back to the original idea. During this week's reading, many of Socrates’ suggestions for a place of perfection reminded me of some novels I’ve read depicting dystopian worlds. Disclaimer: There are spoilers ahead. You have been warned.        To begin, in  The  Giver  by Lois Lowry censorship is a major theme. The novel is centered around a boy who is receiving memories withheld from the population! The government in The Giver is especially careful to censor the memories that may cause strife, anger, fear, sadness, etc. In the adults, this society is cemented. So, the government is especially strict with the youth. Socrates talks about verses to “obliterate” to prevent the descriptions from doing “harm to our future warriors” for the better half of Book III (Plato, page 44). The warriors he speaks of are the youth. He goes on to list the multitude of verses that should be done ...
7 comments
Read more