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Copyright 2008 The Hellenic Society Prometheas
6700 Landon Lane
Bethesda, Maryland 20817
Telephone: 301.229.9389
E-mail: prometheasdc@aol.com
Site design by Adele Uphaus
This page includes information about the mythology of Prometheas, Greek language resources, and links to other organizations dedicated to Greek culture.
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| Mythology |
The Creation of Man by Prometheus (by J.M. Hunt)
Prometheus and Epimetheus were spared imprisonment in Tartarus because they had not fought with their fellow Titans during the war with the Olympians. They were given the task of creating man. Prometheus shaped man out of mud, and Athena breathed life into his clay figure.
Prometheus had assigned Epimetheus the task of giving the creatures of the earth their various qualities, such as swiftness, cunning, strength, fur, and wings. Unfortunately, by the time he got to man Epimetheus had given all the good qualities out and there were none left for man. So Prometheus decided to make man stand upright as the gods did and to give him fire.
Prometheus loved man more then the Olympians, who had banished most of his family to Tartarus. So when Zeus decreed that man must present a portion of each animal he scarified to the gods, Prometheus decided to trick Zeus. He created two piles, one with the bones wrapped in juicy fat, the other with the good meat hidden in the hide. He then bade Zeus to pick. Zeus picked the bones. Since he had given his word, Zeus had to accept this pile as his share for future sacrafices. In his anger over the trick, he took fire away from man. However, Prometheus lit a torch from the sun and brought it back again to man. Zeus was enraged that man again had fire. He decided to inflict a terrable punishment on both man and Prometheus.
To punish man, Zeus had Hephaestus create a mortal of stunning beauty. The gods gave the mortal many gifts of wealth. He then had Hermes give the mortal a deceptive heart and a lying tongue. This creation was Pandora, the first woman. A final gift was a jar which Pandora was forbidden to open. Thus completed, Zeus sent Pandora down to Epimetheus, who was staying amongst the men.
Prometheus had warned Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus, but Pandora's beauty was too great and he allowed her to stay. Eventually, Pandora's curiosity about the jar she was forbidden to open became intolerable to her. She opened the jar and out flew all manner of evils, sorrows, plagues, and misfortunes. However, the bottom of the jar held one good thing - hope.
Zeus was angry at Prometheus for three things: being tricked by the scarifices, stealing fire for man, and refusing to tell Zeus which of Zeus's children would dethrone him. Zeus had his servants, Force and Violence, seize Prometheus, take him to the Caucasus Mountains, and chain him to a rock with unbreakable adamanite chains. Here he was tormented day and night by a giant eagle tearing at his liver. Zeus gave Prometheus two ways out of this torment. He could tell Zeus who the mother of the child that would dethrone him was, or meet two conditions. The first was that an immortal must volunteer to die for Prometheus, and the second was that a mortal must kill the eagle and unchain him. Eventually, Chiron the Centaur agreed to die for him and Heracles killed the eagle and unbound him.
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece How the Greeks met their gods? What was so mysterious about mystery cults in the ancient world?
History
Constantinople
| Greek Language Resources |
Dictionaries
Ancient GreekLiddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon of Classical Greek (Perseus Project) Strong's Greek Biblical Dictionary
Modern LanguageEnglish-Greek On-line Lexicon (excellent) Greek-English dictionaries Greek-Catalan Dictionary Greek-English Dictionary of Current Words and Phrases Greek-Serbian Dictionary
Specialty DictionariesGlossary of Internet Terms Greek-English-Greek Informatics Terminology Dictionary
Spell-Checkers
Teach Yourself Greek
Translation
| Links |
[Council of Hellenes Abroad (Symboulio Apodimou Ellinismou, SAE)]
[Hellenic Diaspora: General Resources] [Hellenic Link]
[Hellenic Organizations in Canada]
[Hellenic Organizations in the U.S.] [Greek Universities] [Research Institutes] [Technological Education Institutes]
[Private Colleges & Vocational Schools][Art Galleries & Cultural Centers]
[Costume & Dance] [Events] [Film] [Literature, Books & Publishers] [Music]
[Photography] [Sculpture & Pottery] [Theater]
Council of Hellenes Abroad
(Symboulio Apodimou Ellinismou, SAE)
Hellenic Diaspora: General Resources
Greek Organizations in the United States
Greek Universities
Research Institutes Technological Education Institutes (TEI) Private Colleges & Vocational Schools
Art Galleries & Cultural Centers
Costume & Dance
Events
Film
Literature, Books & Publishers
Music
Photography
Sculpture & Pottery
Theatre
| Travel to Greece |
Each link below will take you to a slide show with pictures of Greece's popular tourist destinations. The first is an overview of mainland Greece and its islands, followed by separate slide shows featuring the Cyclades, the island of Mykonos and the island of Santorini. (*Each link will bring up a dialogue box asking what you would like to do with the file - to view the slide show, click "open.")
Overview
The Cyclades
Mykonos
Santorini
Mount Athos... in power point
