Prometheus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Prometheus

29 passages from 9 ancient authors that tell of Prometheus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Prometheus was one of the Titans, son of Iapetus (also a Titan) and Clymene, an Oceanid. His brothers were Epimetheus, Atlas and Menoetius. The name d... For the story in one place, read our article on Prometheus.

Hesiod (5)

Hesiod, Works and Days 40–104Prometheus, fire and Pandora (40-104)The gods keep the means of life hidden from men, and Zeus hides fire because Prometheus deceived him; Prometheus steals it back in a fennel-stalk. As the price for fire Zeus has Hephaestus mould a maiden, whom Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and the Graces equip with skills, charm and a deceitful nature. She is named Pandora and sent to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus's warning, and she lifts the lid of the jar and scatters evils among men, while Hope alone stays inside.
Hesiod, Theogony 505–534The sons of Iapetus: Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus and Epimetheus (505-534)Iapetus and Clymene have four sons. Menoetius is struck down by Zeus for his arrogance, Atlas is made to hold up the sky, and the crafty Prometheus is bound, with an eagle sent to eat his liver, until Heracles kills it and frees him. Epimetheus, who took the first woman from Zeus, is introduced as a source of trouble for men.
Hesiod, Theogony 535–569Prometheus' trick at Mecone and the theft of fire (535-569)At Mecone, when gods and men are settling their portions, Prometheus divides an ox, hiding the meat under the stomach and the bones under shining fat; Zeus, knowing the trick, chooses the fat and bones. In anger Zeus withholds fire from men, and Prometheus steals it back in a fennel stalk.
Hesiod, Theogony 570–614The first woman: Zeus's price for fire (570-614)Zeus gives men an evil in return for fire: Hephaestus moulds a maiden from earth, Athena dresses her, and the other gods adorn her. Hesiod says that from her comes the race of women, a great trouble to mortal men, like drones among the bees, and that marriage and bachelorhood each bring their own sorrow. He ends with the fate of Prometheus, whom strong bonds confine.
Hesiod, Fragments 1.1–13Deucalion, Hellen and their descendantsThe Catalogue of Women opens with the descendants of Deucalion and Hellen, saying that Deucalion was the son of Prometheus and Pronoea, that Hellen fathered Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus, and that Thyia bore Magnes and Macedon to Zeus. The fragments then turn to the Aloiadae, Eurynome, Endymion, the sons of Actor and Molione, Periclymenus, and the sons of Neleus whom Heracles killed. Most are short quotations from later writers who cite Hesiod for a name or a descent.

Apollodorus (2)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.7.1–10Prometheus, Deucalion's flood and the family of HellenPrometheus moulds men from water and earth, steals fire for them and is nailed to Mount Caucasus, where an eagle eats his liver until Heracles frees him. His son Deucalion survives Zeus's flood in a chest with Pyrrha and makes new people from stones; their son Hellen gives the Greeks their name and divides the country among Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus. The section then follows Aeolus's children: the Aloads Otus and Ephialtes who pile Ossa and Pelion on Olympus, Endymion, Aetolus, Evenus and Marpessa, and the house of Thestius.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.5.11–12The Labours of Heracles (11-12): the Golden Apples and CerberusBecause the hydra and the stables are not counted, two more labours are added. For the golden apples of the Hesperides Heracles seizes Nereus to learn the way, defeats Antaeus and Busiris, frees Prometheus from the eagle, and gets the apples by tricking Atlas into taking the sky back. He is initiated at Eleusis, goes down to Hades by Taenarum, raises Theseus (but not Pirithous), wrestles Menoetes, and carries Cerberus up to Eurystheus and back.

Aeschylus (12)

Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 687–785Second episode (cont.): the wanderings of Io (1)The Chorus is shocked by the tale, and Prometheus tells Io the course of her wanderings: east across the plains of the Scythians, past the Chalybes, to the Caucasus, to the Amazons and the Cimmerian strait. Io asks why she should not kill herself, and Prometheus tells her that he is tormented without hope of dying, and that Zeus himself will be thrown from his sovereignty by a marriage that he will make, a secret that he refuses to disclose. He offers Io the choice of hearing the rest of her wanderings or the name of his deliverer.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 944–1006Exodos: Hermes demands the secretHermes calls Prometheus a clever rebel and a thief of fire and demands to know who will overthrow Zeus, and Prometheus mocks him as the servant of the gods and says that he will tell nothing. They exchange taunts, and Prometheus answers that he would not change his fate for the servitude of Hermes.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 279–398First episode (cont.): Oceanus offers to intercedeOceanus arrives on a winged creature and offers to plead with Zeus for Prometheus. He advises him to know himself, to change his ways and not to speak so defiantly against the new ruler. Prometheus refuses, tells of the punishment of Atlas and of Typhon, says that Oceanus might suffer himself if he tried, and tells him to go home. Oceanus leaves.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 609–686Second episode: Io tells her storyPrometheus tells Io who he is, that he gave fire to mankind, and that Zeus and Hephaestus bound him, but he will not say why he is punished. At the Chorus' urging she tells how dreams urged her to go to the meadow of Lerna to meet Zeus, how her father Inachus received oracles that told him to cast her out, and how she was changed into a cow and pursued by Argus and by the gadfly.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 196–278First episode: why Zeus punishes PrometheusAt the Chorus's request Prometheus tells his story. He says that when Zeus rebelled against Cronus he advised the Titans, and when they refused he went over to Zeus, whose new rule then threw the Titans into Tartarus. Zeus wished to destroy mankind and Prometheus saved them by giving them blind hopes and fire. The Chorus warn him that he has done wrong, and he answers that those who are not in trouble find it easy to give advice.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 399–525First stasimon and Prometheus' gifts to mankindThe Chorus sing a lament for Prometheus, joined by the peoples of Asia and the sea and rivers. Prometheus then tells what he did for mortals: he gave them minds, taught them houses, the seasons, numbers and letters, the taming of animals, ships, medicine, divination and the working of metals, and he says that every art of men comes from Prometheus. He says that not even Zeus can escape Necessity, and refuses to say what secret protects Zeus' rule.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 877–943Third stasimon and Prometheus' defiance; Hermes arrivesIo, stung again by the gadfly, cries out in frenzy. The Chorus sing that it is wise to marry within one's own station and pray never to be the bride of a god, and Prometheus says that Zeus will be humbled by a marriage that will bring about his fall. Prometheus says that he cares nothing for Zeus, and sees Hermes coming as messenger.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1–87Prologue: Prometheus is nailed to the rockPower and Force bring Prometheus to a remote Scythian wilderness and order Hephaestus to chain him to the rock for stealing fire and giving it to mortals. Hephaestus pities his kinsman, but carries out the order of Zeus and drives in the fetters, while Power mocks the prisoner and tells him that he will have to learn to bear Zeus' rule. They go, and Prometheus is left alone.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 526–608Second stasimon: the Chorus' warning; Io arrivesThe Chorus pray never to oppose Zeus, and warn Prometheus that he has honoured mortals too much, and they remember the song they sang at his marriage to their sister Hesione. Io, a maiden with the horns of a cow, enters in frenzy, driven by the gadfly that Hera sent after her. She asks who is chained to the rock, and Prometheus recognises her as the daughter of Inachus, and she begs him to say who he is and what suffering awaits her.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 786–876Second episode (cont.): the wanderings of Io (2) and her descendantsPrometheus goes on to tell Io of the rest of her way: across to Asia, to the Gorgons and the daughters of Phorcys, and then to the Nile, where Zeus will restore her to her senses and she will bear Epaphus. He foretells that the fifty daughters of one of her descendants will come back to Argos and that all but one will kill their husbands. From the one who spares her husband will come a bold archer who will free Prometheus.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 1007–1093Exodos: Hermes' threat and the earthquakeHermes tells Prometheus that Zeus will split the rock with thunder and bury him, and that after a long time he will be brought back to the light, when an eagle will tear his liver every day. The Chorus urge him to yield, but refuse to leave him, and as the earth shakes and the thunder rolls, Prometheus calls on heaven and earth to see the wrongs that he suffers.
Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 88–195Parodos: Prometheus' cry and the arrival of the OceanidsLeft alone, Prometheus calls on the sky, the winds, the rivers and the sea, and on Earth, to witness what he suffers from the gods. He says that he knew all that would happen to him. The daughters of Oceanus arrive in a winged car, and the Chorus pity him, while he answers that the day will come when Zeus will need him to reveal the plot by which he is to lose his throne.

Apollonius Rhodius (2)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.1226–1285Argo reaches the river PhasisArgo passes the island of Philyra and the coast of the Macrones and Becheiri. At evening the heroes see Prometheus on the Caucasus and the eagle that feeds on him, and they reach the broad river Phasis, where they lower the sails, row into the stream and moor the ship in a shady backwater.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.744–911Medea's night of tormentAt night Medea is divided between her duty to her parents and her love for Jason, and takes up a casket of drugs with the thought of ending her life. A fear of Hades and a prompting from Hera restore her resolve, and at dawn she takes the charm of Prometheus and drives to the temple of Hecate. She tells her maids that she will meet the stranger there.

Aristophanes (1)

Aristophanes, Birds 1493–1560Episode: Prometheus warns PeisthetaerusPrometheus arrives muffled in a cloak and asks whether any god is following, and he asks for an umbrella so that Zeus cannot see him. Under the umbrella he tells Peisthetaerus that all is up with Zeus, since no sacrifices have reached the gods since the city was built, and that the starving barbarian gods are threatening to march on Zeus. He advises Peisthetaerus to make peace only if the sceptre is restored to the birds and Sovereignty is given to him as a wife, and he takes the umbrella and leaves. The Chorus sing of Socrates calling up spirits at the home of the Shadow-feet.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.14.1–4.16.4Heracles: the Olympic Games, the Giants and the AmazonsAfter the stables Heracles founds the Olympic Games and receives gifts from the gods. He fights on the side of the gods against the Giants at Pallene, frees Prometheus by shooting the eagle, and brings Eurystheus the man-eating horses of Diomedes. He then sails to the Pontus for the girdle of Hippolyte and defeats the Amazons.

Pausanias (4)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.4.1–10Panopeus and Daulis: Prometheus' clay, the tomb of Tityus and the story of TereusPausanias describes Panopeus, a poor city by a ravine whose dancing-grounds are explained by the Thyiads, and its image said to be Aesculapius or Prometheus beside two clay stones that smell of human flesh. He mentions the tomb of Tityus and Cleon's tale of a sea-man five roods long, then Daulis, where Tereus was served his son and where swallows do not nest, and the shrine of the hero-founder at Tronis.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.30.1–4Athens: the Academy, tomb of Plato and ColonusAt the Academy are an altar of Love and, in the city, an altar of Love Returned, with the story of Meles and Timagoras. Pausanias describes the altar of Prometheus and the torch race, the altars of the Muses, Hermes, Athena and Hercules, an olive plant, and Plato’s tomb with Socrates’ dream of the swan. Nearby are the tower of Timon and Colonus Hippius, with its altar of Horse Poseidon and shrine of Pirithous, Theseus, Oedipus and Adrastus, burnt by Antigonus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.19.1–8Argos: the temple of Wolfish Apollo and the story of DanausPausanias finishes the early Argive kings, from Temenus and Deiphontes to Meltas, whom the people deposed. He then describes the sanctuary of Wolfish Apollo, founded by Danaus after a wolf killed a bull before the Argives’ judgment, with the throne of Danaus, the statue of Biton, the fire of Phoroneus, images of Aphrodite and Hermes, and the tale of Hypermnestra. He ends with the graves of the two Linuses and the altar where the Seven swore their oath.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.11.1–11Olympia: Phidias’ gold and ivory statue of Zeus and its thronePausanias describes the seated gold and ivory Zeus, its Victory, sceptre, sandals and robe, and the throne with its Victories, sphinxes, Niobids and painted barriers by Panaenus. He notes the reliefs on the footstool and pedestal, the unrecommended measurements, the thunderbolt that answered Phidias’ prayer, and the oil that preserves the ivory, comparing the water at Athens and the well under the Aesculapius at Epidaurus.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.333–455The madness of AiasThetis and the Nereids plunge back into the sea, where Cymothoe curses Prometheus. Aias, furious at the verdict, will not eat or sleep and arms himself in the night, and Athena strikes him with madness to spare Odysseus. Menelaus fears for the army, but Aias slaughters the flocks in the plain, thinking them Argives, and taunts a slain ram as if it were Odysseus.

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 7.0–66Book 7: Time begs Zeus to relieve mankindThe earth is peopled again after the flood, but human life is full of sorrow, and Time shows mankind's troubles to Zeus. Time kneels before him, says he is weary of pitying mortals, and offers to give up the rudder of the years. He complains that old age, early death and joyless weddings have no cure, and that neither Pandora's jar nor Prometheus's fire has helped.