Promethean Myth

Promethean Myth

Discuss the relationship between Prometheus and Faustus, paying particular attention to the use of cultural myth.

The beautiful fables of the Greeks, being proper creations of the imagination and not of the fancy, are universal verities. What a range of meanings and what perpetual pertinence has the story of Prometheus. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The influence and legacy of the Promethean myth can be traced through history. From Hesiod to Shakespeare, Marlowe to the Coen Brothers, the Promethean motif has been reused and recycled until it holds a distinctly familiar, yet strangely obscure grip on the imagination. What is the reality behind this myth and how does our own contemporary reality compare with a three thousand year old Greek fable? One aspect that we can relate to is the impotence of Prometheus. This is highlighted in Marlowe’s Dr Faustus; this impotence is inextricably linked with the conflict between the representatives of man (Prometheus and Faustus) against a superior power. To explore these links, it is first prudent to trace the history and influence of the Promethean myth.

The history of this recognised cultural myth is difficult to ascertain, certainly Aeschylus loosely based his play on Hesiod’s two poems Theogony and The works and Days, but where can the origin of such a fable be found? History tells us that the early civilisations made sacrifices to their various “Gods”; an animal would be butchered, the fat, bones and entrails would be wholly burnt and the smoke would ascend heavenward. The meat could then be eaten thus ensuring no waste. Hesiod’s version of the myth about Prometheus’s and Zeus’s choice seems to have been composed to explain why people didn’t have to burn the parts that were good to eat (an etiologic myth). This is just one example, however, of the fire creation story which can be traced throughout many early global cultures, from Norse to Aboriginal: witness Krishna’s claims that “Brahma is the bringer of light for rebirth” in Indian mythology. James Frazer gives many examples about the original theft of fire from a wide variety of cultures in his essay .

There is no doubt that the Promethean tradition has become an everyday aspect of literary and artistic society: Shakespearean lines such as “Women’s eyes are the source of true Promethean fire” to “And faster bound to Aaron’s charming eyes, than is Prometheus tied to the Caucaus” 4 illustrate this, (Nietzsche also argues that Hamlet is a Dionysiac Promethean hero)5 .