PROMETHEUS
Prometheus (Προμηθεύς)
Unchanged by any teller — how the centuries since have seen Prometheus.
Prometheus Bound
Peter Paul Rubens, 1611–1618
Monumental Baroque oil painting by Peter Paul Rubens, with the eagle painted by the animal specialist Frans Snyders; it hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Zeus's eagle tears at the liver of the chained Titan — the eternal punishment Prometheus earned for stealing fire for mankind.
Prometheus
Paul Manship, 1934
Gilded bronze sculpture by Paul Manship overlooking the sunken plaza of Rockefeller Center in New York. Prometheus glides through a ring bearing the signs of the zodiac as he carries the stolen fire down to mankind, making him one of the most recognizable public artworks in America.
Prometheus Brings Fire to Mankind
Heinrich Füger, 1817
Neoclassical oil painting by the Austrian artist Heinrich Füger. Lit by the flame he has stolen from the gods, Prometheus bears the torch of fire down to humankind — a Romantic-era vision of the Titan as the great benefactor and enlightener of the human race.