A month ago, I had shared a review of Netflix’s new show on Greek Mythology “Kaos” starring Jeff Goldblum. The show itself is comedic gold, but I couldn’t help but wonder what is going to happen with the narrator, Prometheus.
My interest in Prometheus stems from the fact that he is the creator of humanity in the Greek Mythologies. He is humanity’s creator and a loving parent. Like every creator myth though, it is said that we partake of the nature of our creator and in the Greek traditions, part of that inheritance is misaligned.
2000 years ago, the messaging about the human condition took a dramatic turn and we went from living as beings of divine origin to perpetrators of sin. From the times of Hermes Trismegistus who lived 6-8000 years ago to the Theogony of Hesiod, Humanity’s roots are both mortal and divine. The philosophy of these ancient times is that Humanity is innately good, but we forget at times and sin – we miss the mark.
Hermes Trismegistus spoke of 12 sins that plague the human condition and cause us to forget our divine roots. Hesiod spoke of 4 sins that we inherited from our maker and his brothers, the uncles of humanity if you will.
So, I’d like to open the vaults of mythology and introduce you to Prometheus, the Greek Titan God of Forethought.
Prometheus: Creator of Humanity
Prometheus and his brothers were the sons of Iapetus, one of the 12 Primordial Titan Gods. Prometheus was the God of Fire and crafty counsel and when translated, his name literally means “forethought”. During the Titanomachy, a war between the Olympian and Titan Gods, Prometheus sided with Zeus and when the Olympians won, he was spared from imprisonment in Tartarus.
Having won the world as their kingdom, the Olympians began their process of terraforming the Earth. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were given the task of producing the life forms that were to inhabit the Earth. Prometheus fashioned them from clay, Athena breathed life into them and Epimetheus was in charge of assigning each species a gift or special ability (i.e. flying).
After Prometheus fashioned all the animals, his last creation was man. Prometheus knew this creation was special and so he fashioned man to stand on 2 legs as only the Gods had done. Athena imbued us with the spirit of life and when it came time for Epimetheus to give man his gift, he reached deep into empty pockets only to realize that he had runs out of gifts and abilities to bestow.
Luckily, Prometheus (forethought) must have anticipated the result as Epimetheus (whose name translates as “afterthought”) wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the forge. Prometheus then gifted us with the ability to use fire, a creative power that had been reserved only for the Gods themselves.
Humanity was dear to Prometheus and he imbued us with godly characteristics and abilities because he knew that we were not simply animals. Prometheus’ love for humanity was so strong, he tricked Zeus so that we could have the best of everything, including the sacrificial meat. The rest of the Gods were not so keen on us in the beginning with Zeus taking fire away from us due to Prometheus’s scheming.
After Prometheus snuck into Hephaistos and Athena’s forge to steal divine creative fire to return to humanity, he was imprisoned on Mount Caucasus and his scheming was put to a stop. Over time, the Olympians came to love humanity, bestowing gifts of abundance, knowledge and wisdom, and defending them from monsters, giants and evil of all kinds.
Humanity’s Inheritance from Prometheus
The creator is always reflected in his creations in some way. So, when Prometheus created humanity, it is said that we inherited gifts and some flaws from him and his brothers, the uncles of humanity. These are the four sins of humanity according to Hesiod. As always, your greatest gift becomes your downfall and your greatest weakness. So, let’s look at the “genetic karma” we inherited from these Gods.
Prometheus: Excessive Scheming – this was an interesting contemplation for me. The Greeks, along with the Vikings and Egyptians placed a high value on wisdom and intelligence. Being cunning was as a positive trait to the ancient Greeks. It is a quality shared by many heroes including Odysseus, Perseus, Jason and Herakles (Hercules).
What distinguishes Prometheus from the heroes that I mentioned is the word ‘excessive’.
The willingness to betray, use subterfuge, and dishonour the good for personal gain. In our modern times, we would call it Machiavellian – the use of cunning because the ends justify the means. We can see it at work on both the collective and personal levels.
If we look at the big movie and tv genres of the 2000s, spy movies and conspiracy whistle blower movies are very reflective of this trait at work on a collective level. Hollywood always exaggerates things, but foreign-interference is a part of our reality now and it is the misuse of forethought that Prometheus gifted us.
On the personal level, this shows up in too many ways to count. What I find interesting is that I see the roots of it in the sudden proliferation of marketing funnels, systems, and basically get rich quick schemes. Marketers have really tapped into the scheming nature of humanity and have learned that if they promise 5 or 6-figures of monthly income, they’ll have people sign up to sit at the table and scheme away.
Of course you know this “sin” in other guises – the interfering/scheming mother-in-law, the work gossip who manipulates other staff, the serially failing entrepreneur, the creative person whose ideas never take off, etc.
The essence that Prometheus brings to us is Forethought. When used correctly, we become wise and discerning. We take actions in alignment with reality that produce good results. When used incorrectly, that excessive scheming is harmful on the personal and collective levels.
Epimetheus: Naivete/Stupidity – Epimetheus’ story doesn’t end with treating humanity as an afterthought in our creation. Epimetheus sided with Prometheus and the Olympians in the Titanomachy and was also the husband of Pandora, the first woman.
When Pandora was made, all the Gods had given her gifts and Zeus had gifted her with curiosity. As a peace offering, Epimetheus and Pandora accepted a box from Zeus at their wedding. If you know the legend of Pandora’s box, you know that Pandora was too curious to resist the box and Epimetheus too naïve to stop her from opening it (despite warnings from Prometheus), and so all manners of misfortune fell upon humanity.
Again, I find an interesting overlap with the Viking philosophy here because a lack of intelligence was considered to be a sin in both cultural mythologies. It is not a statement that those who are not as discerning are evil, but rather that they are susceptible to misfortune and have the unfortunate tendency to make others susceptible too.
Simply put, a lack of intelligence generally doesn’t bode well for you. Intelligence is about being able to discern and make wise choices. Epimetheus’s well-meaning nature resulted in poor choices. If you can temper Epimetheus’s good nature with the balanced cunning of Prometheus, you can sustain the belief in goodness in the world and others and effectively create and contribute to it.
Atlas: Excessive Daring – As one of the uncles of humanity, we also inherited a trait from the God who is thought to hold the world on his shoulders. (FYI – the world is actually a misconception. Atlas was originally depicted to carry the sphere of the heavens on his shoulders as he was originally a god of mathematics and astronomy). In the Titanomachy, you could say he aimed for the stars and stood against the Olympians. When the Olympians won, Atlas was ordered to endure the weight of the heavens on his shoulders.
In today’s world, excessive daring truly appears to be disguised if you’re looking for it on the collective level and yet it has become almost deified on the personal level. Excessive daring is action taken with negligence or without care for the impact on others. Today, Excessive Daring (i.e. the Sin of Atlas) is Activism.
But isn’t activism supposed to make the world better?
No, it’s supposed to make the world better for whoever is being advocated for without care or consideration for anyone else. This is why I say that the genetic inheritance of Atlas is disguised. Messaging is used to indicate that activism makes the world better for everyone when that is never the intention to begin with.
When we heal this aspect of humanity’s genetic inheritance, Atlas gives us bravery. The bravery to experiment and try new things, the bravery to undertake challenges that make our lives better, and the bravery to have the difficult conversations it takes to have peace (personally and collectively).
If we had a little more bravery in the world, I think that there would be a lot more peace and understanding.
Menoetius: Impetuousness/Violent Anger – Menoetius’s story is not very well known or developed in the Greek Mythologies. Menoetius was not very involved in the workings of the Gods and aside from being the son of Iapetus and brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus and Atlas, he was little known. What little is known of Menoetius is how he met his end.
In the Titanomachy, Menoetius sided with the Titans. During the battle, Menoetius was filled with rage and was the first to attack Zeus. Menoetius’s ending was as quick as his story, as Zeus instantly incinerated him with his Lightning Bolt. His impetuous attack becoming his demise.
While historians are not certain about the etymology of his name, “Doomed Might” is what they translate it as. Menoetius was described as impetuous and violent until the end and for that reason, I believe that the other Gods stayed away. He is not depicted in stories with his brothers or with any other gods than in the Titanomachy – there is an aversion to him and his nature.
I think that we all feel that aversion to impetuousness and violent anger. How many people truly delight in that? The only examples I can think of are fictional movies.
Like Prometheus, Epimetheus and Atlas, we also need to purify the genetic inheritance of Menoetius. Most of us are not violently angry and attacking others though…
Or are we…?
When someone is impetuous, it implies that they react without restraint. While we are not violently killing each other nowadays, the misuse of Menoetius’s might lives on in our triggers/buttons. It’s funny how being offended is perceived as being virtuous when really it is hypocrisy in the form of virtue signalling. The idea that people are not responsible for their triggers or that triggers justify rash violence (physical or verbal) is how we perpetuate violence and avoid the actual healing it takes to prevent it in the first place.
The gift of Menoetius would be might or strength. Strength with excessive emotion is simply lashing out and we all know how much everyone in the office loves the easily triggered person. They all tread with caution and love them so much they avoid them as much as possible.
To embrace might, we actually have to take responsibility for our triggers and heal them. This applies on the personal level, but also on the collective when a group of triggered people gather together to “cancel” others or punish, harass and threaten anyone who triggers them.
Instead of “doomed might”, Menoetius could lead us to victory – the strength that supports yourself and others.
Embracing the Divinity of Humanity’s Genetic Inheritance:
I believe in always providing a roadmap back to goodness. It’s important to have Goodness in our sights in all things. While we inherited what seems to be some not-so-great things from our creator Prometheus and his brothers, it is essential to remember that Man was created to follow in the footsteps of the Gods themselves.
We stand upright on two foot as the Gods do, signifying our ability to stand in dignified power. We have been given the gift of creative fire from the forge of Athena and Hephaistos – the inspiration to bring light and change to a dark world.
So let us embrace the best of our inheritance:
Prometheus: Forethought and Wisdom
Epimetheus: Belief in Goodness
Atlas: Bravery
Menoetius: Might
And just remember, every mythology that exists on the planet is a reminder of our divine origins. We are the Gods…we just screw up sometimes because we have forgotten who we are.
The Greeks always called learning remembering, because this knowledge of who we are is innate to us as spirit. We just have to contend with this unfortunate amnesia while we’re here.
May you remember your divinity more and more!
Aleks
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