Look to Greek mythology for Prometheus meaning

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2012)

*A Few Spoilers Below... You may want to see the movie first.*
It's nearly 3am and I just got home from the 12:01am IMAX 3D showing of Ridley Scott's film, Prometheus. If you're looking for tons of action and gratuitous violence then watch something else. This is an Alien prequel/side story and if you've seen Alien (as I have several times) you know there's a lot of shadows and silence, leading up to the scary stuff. Roger Ebert says the movie raises questions about the origin of human life and doesn't have the answers. I think it's a BIG mistake to compare the new film to Alien. It helps to have some knowledge of mythology and sociology: this is an intellectual's movie!
In Greek mythology Prometheus was a Titan who created man from clay which enabled civilization. He was known as a champion of mankind. In the Western canon, Prometheus represented human striving – i.e. the quest for scientific knowledge and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded as a lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence also resulted in tragedy. Author Mary Shelley gave The Modern Prometheus as the subtitle to her novel Frankenstein in 1818.
Also look to The Republic of Plato:
"Behold! Human beings living in a sort of underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all across the den; they have been here from their childhood and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and only see before them; for the chains are arranged in such a manner to prevent them from turning round their heads."
*Major spoiler here. You've been warned!*
In the first scene a pale humanoid is abandoned on a Earth-like planet. He opens and swallows a writhing fluid that destroys him and as he falls into a large body of water the organism transmutes through his tissues, into his DNA and further. The particles of destruction (a virus?) infests the water. After seeing the film I began to wonder if it might be possible that we (human beings) are the viruses in an evolved state. The humanoids (in my view they would look different), as possible gods of humankind were our creators and they also attempt to destroy us by sending a spaceship with a viral cargo to Earth. This mission was thwarted by handsome Idris Elba as Captain Janek of the ship Prometheus. :) Anyway...
In the new film, we get some of the shadow but little silence. It pays homage to earlier science fiction films: 2001: A Space Odyssey and, of course, the original Alien with H.R. Giger's most famous creation. The 3D was amazing. At some point I forgot about the 3D and was able to focus on the movie that was pretty awe inspiring. The 3D alien star chart was beautiful, as were the sets. I loved that Captain Janek died for a purpose and was basically a hero. I love that the cast was diverse and the women were strong... this is a 21st century space movie, not Starship Troopers. My only issues were pacing in a few major scenes and some of the key dialog was hard to catch. I guess that means I'll need to see it again!