updated 9-03-03

Chapter 5a
The Origin of Mortals
pages 109-125
75 points possible

As far as we know, all societies have pondered the question of mankind's place in the cosmos, asking where they came from, what their purpose is, and why they must struggle and die.  One common theme in the stories of most cultures is that men are enormously different from the gods because men are mortal and thus must die while the gods live forever.  In most creation myths, we see that men are made from dirt or mud, emphasizing their human mortality.  Another common theme that men have lost the favor of the gods, usually because of a woman, and must now work hard just to survive.

The Greeks, like others before and after them, also made up stories to answer these universal questions.  Greek myths tell several different stories about where humans came from and why they were created.  They also tell several different stories about why they lost the favor of the gods and the easy life that came from that favor.  Two of these are that Zeus created humans because he wanted to be worshipped and that Prometheus invented humans and later came to love his creations.

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1.  (5)  Why was Prometheus' name especially suited to an inventor?

2.  (10)  What happened at the feast of Mecone?  Who "won"? 

3. (5)   What was the first thing Zeus did to punish the humans Prometheus loved so much?  How did this punishment change the human condition?

4.  (10) What did Zeus do to punish Prometheus himself?  Why was this an especially terrible punishment?  How did Prometheus finally escape?

5.  (10) Aeschylus, in his play Prometheus Bound (ll. 442-471), summarizes the civilizing gifts or skills that Prometheus gave to man.  List 5 of these.

6.  (10) In the same play (ll. 476-506), Aeschylus pays special attention to medicine, prophecy, and metallurgy.  It's easy to see why the Greeks thought that understanding medicine was so important, but it's harder to see why the other 2 were thought to be so valuable.  Choose either prophecy or metallurgy and speculate on its importance to the Greeks.

7.  (5)  According to the poet Hesiod (Works and Days ll. 42-104) the second way Zeus punished men for Prometheus's trick at the feast of Mecone was to send them Pandora, the mother of all women.  Who made Pandora?  What was she made of?  

8.  (5) Each of the gods and goddesses endowed Pandora with special characteristics which end up making her a creature of contradictions.  What did she look like on the outside?  What was she like on the inside?

9.  (5) Prometheus's brother Epimetheus accepts Pandora as a gift.  How does his name suggest that he might be this dumb?  Notice the motifs of the danger of ignoring a warning and of brothers as opposites.  

10.   (10) Besides the 2 "loss of paradise" stories of Prometheus and Pandora, Hesiod tells a 3rd such story in "The Five Races."  List each race of men and give a phrase that summarizes each.