How do prometheus and frankenstein relate

Frankenstein believed that, "a new species will bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me" In both cases, these ideas, deluded or realistic, were not the actual or only outcome of their "gifts". In Percy Bysshe Shelley's interpretation of the Prometheus myth, Prometheus is faced with the consequences of his gift of fire and of creating the human race.

Thy name I will not speak-- It hath become a curse. I see, I see The wise, the mild, the lofty, and the just, Some hunted by foul lies from their heart's home, Some linked to corpses in unwholesome cells; Some--hear I not the multitude laugh loud? Get Access. In bringing his monster back from the grave, Dr. Frankenstein defied divine will.

In his case, it was the Christian God who was offended by the hubris of science. In the case of Prometheus, it was Zeus who grew angry when humans received a gift they should not have.

The gift Prometheus gave was not the power over life and death, but it enabled humans to survive nonetheless. When Zeus was tricked into accepting scraps as an offering instead of the best cuts of meat from the sacrificial ox, he retaliated by punishing humans. He took away fire, leaving them unable to cook their food, forge weapons, or keep themselves warm.

The Titan Prometheus, who had always taken pity on mortals, saved mankind by giving fire back to them. Prometheus was harshly punished by Zeus for defying his will, enduring centuries of torment while bound in unbreakable chains. Victor Frankenstein, however, received a much more psychological torture. Frankenstein abandoned the reanimated monster, convinced his experiments had created a creature of pure evil.

The Creature that Frankenstein created, however, was not initially motivated by evil. Abandonment and loneliness however, combined with the blurred lines between life and death, led it to kill those close to the doctor. Victor Frankenstein was driven nearly mad, both by the losses he endured and his own sense of guilt and paranoia. While Victor Frankenstein and Prometheus suffered very different fates, both were tormented by their own actions. Each committed a different act of defying the will of the divine and, in their own ways, were punished for their hubris.

At the root of this caution against defying the gods is the concern that humans themselves may become too close to being gods themselves. As the daughter of two philosophical writers, Mary Shelley was undoubtedly influenced by the works of ancient Greece and Rome.

She was known to have read Ovid and studied the philosophies of Pythagoras. She was known to have read contemporary interpretations of Pythagoreanism, which held Prometheus as a villain. Early 19th-century vegetarian movements, claiming their roots in ancient philosophy, claimed that Prometheus had led humanity astray by encouraging them to use fire to cook the flesh of animals.

The Shelleys were known to follow this lifestyle. Hear the rest and you shall wonder the more at the arts and resources I devised. This first and foremost: if ever man fell ill, there was no defense… but for lack of medicine they wasted away, until I showed them how to mix soothing remedies with which they now ward off all their disorders. Prometheus had given man the gift of knowledge, claiming to be the source of almost all human progress.

The American author, Ray Bradbury, addresses this question in his book, Fahrenheit Through Montage's self discovery the symbolism of the fire shifts from a destructive force to a nourishing flame. Bradbury first portrays fire as a powerful and destructive force, starting the book with this image Montag burning books.

Montag found pleasure in burning them, it was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed" Bradbury 1.

While this totalitarian society viewed fire as entertainment Contrary to what we expect to firemen to do, in this futuristic generation, firemen don't put out fires but create them. According to Greek mythology, the creation of man is credited to Prometheus, a Titan who molded man out of clay before breathing life into his creations. When Zeus discovers that the earthly man has power over fire, he punishes Prometheus for his crime against the heavenly gods by chaining Prometheus to a rock so his liver could be pecked out and eaten by an eagle peck out every day for the rest of eternity.

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