Prometheus: Archetypal Image Of Human Existence

Prometheus the god stole fire from heaven and bestowed it on humans. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where an eagle clawed unceasingly at his liver, until Herakles freed him. For the Greeks, the myth of Prometheus's release reflected a primordial law of existence and the fate of humankind. Carl Kerényi examines the story of Prometheus and the very process of mythmaking as a reflection of the archetypal function and seeks to discover how this primitive tale was invested with a universal fatality, first in the Greek imagination, and then in the Western tradition of Romantic poetry. Kerényi traces the evolving myth from Hesiod and Aeschylus, and in its epic treatment by Goethe and Shelley; he moves on to consider the myth from the perspective of Jungian psychology, as the archetype of human daring signifying the transformation of suffering into the mystery of the sacrifice.

List of contents

	List of Plates
	Introduction
I	Who Is Goethe's Prometheus?	3
II	The Titanic, and the Eternity of the Human Race	19
III	The Prometheus Mythologem in the 'Theogony'	33
IV	Archaic Prometheus Mythology	50
V	Methodological Intermezzo	63
VI	The World in Possession of Fire	69
VII	The Fire Stealer	77
VIII	The 'Prometheus Bound'	83
IX	Prometheus the Knowing One	93
X	The Promethean Prophecy	107
XI	'Prometheus Delivered'	112
XII	Conclusion after Goethe	129
	Abbreviations	134
	List of Works Cited	135
	Index	145

About the author

Carl Kerényi
Translated from the German by Ralph Manheim

Summary

Prometheus the god stole fire from heaven and bestowed it on humans. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where an eagle clawed unceasingly at his liver, until Herakles freed him. For the Greeks, the myth of Prometheus' release reflected a primordial law of existence and the fate of humankind. The author examines the story of Prometheus.

Additional text

"A sterling example of classical scholarship, literary exegesis, and cultural inference. . . . Not only does this book tell us much about man, through his prototypical image, but also much about the Greek civilization which created Prometheus in its image."

Product details

• Authors: Carl Ker&, Carl Ker Nyi, Carl Kerenyi, Karl Kerenyi, Carl Kerényi, Karl Kerényi
• Assisted by: Ralph Manheim (Translation)
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.01.1997
• EAN: 9780691019079
• ISBN: 978-0-691-01907-9
• No. of pages: 196
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 200 mm x 13 mm
• Series: Princeton University Press; Bollingen Series (General); Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology; Prometheus PT. 1; Bollingen Series (General); Bollingen Series; Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology; LITERARY CRITICISM / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology, RELIGION / Ancient, Folklore, myths & legends, Literary studies: general, Ancient religions & mythologies, Ancient religions and Mythologies, Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology)