In Greek mythology, Prometheus (ancient Greek: Προμηθεύς, "forethought") is the Titan honored chiefly for stealing fire from Zeus and giving it to mortals for their use. For this transgression, Zeus ordered that Prometheus be chained to the summit of the Caucasus Mountains for eternity. On each day that followed, an eagle would come and eat his liver. Since Prometheus was immortal, his liver always regenerated, and so he was left to bear this horrible pain every daily. Prometheus is commonly depicted in myth as an intelligent and cunning figure who had sympathy for humanity; today, the term "Promethean" is used to describe people who are connected with great creativity, intellect, and boldness.
Place among the gods
Prometheus was a son of the Titan Iapetus by Clymene, one of the Oceanids. He was also a brother of Atlas, Menoetius, and Epimetheus (the "one who thinks too late;" his polar opposite). He surpassed each of these siblings in cunning and deceit. He would go on to become the father of Deucalion with Pronoia. It was Prometheus who warned Deucalion of Zeus' plan to send a flood to destroy humankind, and subsequently advised his son to build an ark in order to sail to safety.
In general, Prometheus was not fearful of the gods, and he openly ridiculed Zeus, although he was favored by the supreme god for his assistance in the fight against Cronus. Furthermore, it was Prometheus who helped cure Zeus of a particularly horrendous headache. No healer was able to emancipate the king of the gods from this ailment, and so Prometheus came to him and declared that he knew the appropriate remedy, then promptly took a rock from the ground and hit Zeus over the head with it. Out of the wound on Zeus' head climbed the Goddess Athena, and Zeus' headache disappeared. Alternative versions of these myths identify Hephaestus or Hera, rather than Prometheus, as the individual who split Zeus' head open.
Creation of humanity
Prometheus, in Ovid's Metamorphoses, is credited with the creation of human-beings "in godlike image" from