The Lore of Prometheus
Zeus was peeved at how he had been in the matter of animal sacrifices. In response, he took fire away from mankind and wiped its secret from human minds, to make people eat meat raw and shiver from the cold in the dark of night. To make his pettiness stick, the chief god prohibited anybody from letting humanity in on the secret of fire.
Prometheus however defied Zeus and stole fire from Mount Olympus, then smuggled it down to earth to share with mankind and help them survive life’s struggles. That was the final straw for Zeus, who grew livid when he looked down from the heavens and saw the dark of night dispelled by the flicker of fires. To vent his anger at mankind, the chief Olympian sent Pandora down to earth with a box full of calamities.
When the lid of Pandora’s box was eventually removed, all the evils that plague humanity were unleashed. Per ancient Greek lore, from then on, mankind was afflicted with diseases, plagues, war, death, and the constant need for backbreaking labor to eke sustenance out of the earth. Only hope stayed inside the box, to keep life bearable despite all its miseries.
As to Prometheus, Zeus chained him to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains. Every day from then on, a giant eagle flew in to rip open Prometheus’ guts and feast upon his liver. The liver re-grew each night, and the eagle returned each day to repeat the process. That way, Prometheus was subjected to an eternity of torment by day, and nights full of dread of what the morrow would bring.
