Prometheus

**Prometheus** was the God of Forethought from Greco-Roman Mythology. He was the Elder Olympians' spy in the Tytanos Faction during the Titan War, for which he sacrificed his life under Hyperion's hands.

## Overview

In Greek mythology, **Prometheus** is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, knowledge, and more generally, civilization. In some versions of the myth he is also credited with the creation of humanity from clay. Prometheus is known for his intelligence and for being a champion of humankind, and is also generally seen as the author of the human arts and sciences. He is sometimes presented as the father of Deucalion, the hero of the flood story.

The punishment of Prometheus as a consequence of the theft of fire and giving it to humans is a popular subject of both ancient and modern culture. Zeus sentenced Prometheus to eternal torment for his transgression. Prometheus was bound to a rock, and an eagle was sent to eat his liver (in ancient Greece, the liver was thought to be the seat of human emotions). His liver would then grow back overnight, only to be eaten again the next day in an ongoing cycle. According to several major versions of the myth, most notably that of Hesiod, Prometheus was eventually freed by the hero Heracles.

In another myth, Prometheus establishes the form of animal sacrifice practiced in ancient Greek religion. Evidence of a cult to Prometheus himself is not widespread. He was a focus of religious activity mainly at Athens, where he was linked to Athena and Hephaestus, who were the Greek deities of creative skills and technology.

In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy: Mary Shelley, for instance, gave *The Modern Prometheus* as the subtitle to her novel *Frankenstein* (1818).

## Appearance

Prometheus appeared as a tall and thin man in his 30s, with pale skin and a constant grin on his face. His black hair is tied into a neat ponytail, leaving two long strands loose in the front, and his eyes are a piercing light-blue. He wears an all-white three-piece suit with a matching fedora and purple tie, as well as a white overcoat.

## Personality

Prometheus was arguably one of the most mysterious Titans, even comparable to the likes of Kronos or Mnemosyne. Many saw him as an exceptionally enigmatic individual, mainly for his anticipation for impending events that he refused to tell. However, he himself admitted that he wasn't always right as he ruled over "forethought", not "foresight", and he knew that the future was never pre-determined unless *someone* had declared them to be.

Like most gods, he was arrogant and overconfident in his own powers. He acted lackadaisical and relaxed almost all the time to the point of annoyance, and had no problem calling out other gods' horrible actions even if it caused a blade to be held to his throat. He was also arrogant enough to never care about the long-term consequences of his actions, only about the immediate result. Overall, this arrogance of him could be reinterpreted as a casual observation of what a person in the present has become while simultaneously comparing them with what they *will* become.

Highly intelligent and manipulative, he had a calculating and methodical side to him more befitting for a puppet master than a trickster, as he was not so much immoral as he was amoral. He often stood to the side as an inquisitive, apathetic observer most of the time, assessing people and situations while throwing out morality and the concept of "gray areas" as contaminating factors.

He had a soft-spot for mankind and was one of the few Greco-Roman gods to truly see humans as more than potential sources of worship, even declaring himself a "Champion of Mankind". He had genuine respect for humans' unshakable will to survive and vowed to do anything to help them, even if it landed him in trouble from the other gods. In ancient times, he had paid many trips to Earth and taught humans many things, building the first civilizations in ancient Greece, which resulted in him being remembered as the "creator" of mankind in Greek mythology.

While living as "Shane Elbrus", Fury commented that he was "a great man, but not a good father". In Fury's childhood memories, Prometheus was seen as a mysterious man shrouded in gentlemanly decorum and clever semantics. He often disappeared in months-long trips outside the United States and rarely came home, and whenever he did return, most of the time he spent eating, sleeping, or "resting" with his wife, which ultimately resulted in their divorce when Fury was 10 years old. After the divorce, he did try to become a good father to his son, though his efforts were "as fake and half-hearted as the souvenirs [Prometheus] sent".

## Equipment

**Prometheus' Grimoire**: A grimoire in the form of a stone tablet created by Prometheus. As an artifact created in the Age of Gods, it was born from an abundance of raw magical energy and possesses immense arcane powers. Imbued within it is a fragment of Prometheus' divine authority and consciousness, which allows the grimoire's user to temporarily steal and use another god's divine power.

## Trivia

* He claimed to have converted to Christianity purely to irritate Zeus.
* Themis claims the reason he turned to the Elder Olympians' side was because of her prophecy.
* In Athens, he was linked with Hephaestus and Athena, two gods associated with creative skills and technology.
* Hesychius of Alexandria gave him the name "Ithas" and called him "Herald of the Titans".
* The mount where he was bound on is thought to either be Mount Elbrus or Mount Kazbek, two volcanic promontories in the Caucasus Mountains beyond which for the ancient Greeks lay the realm of the *barbarii*.
* In the Romantic era, he was regarded as the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence resulted in tragedy.
* Prometheus, one of Saturn's moons, is named after him.
* The element Promethium in the periodic table is named after him.