S4E2 - Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Pandora

The stories featured in Greaking Out are original adaptations of classic Greek myths.

This week's story features liver-eating eagles, an abundance of curiosity, stories with plots that reinforce gender stereotypes, and all the horrors of mankind.

Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Pandora.

This is a story about greed, punishment, vengeance, and a little thing called hope.

But first, we have to go back to the beginning.

Technically, we are at the beginning.

The episode just started.

No, I mean the beginning, like the very, very beginning, before humans existed, before animals existed.

Are you talking about creation?

Exactly.

According to the ancient Greeks, before there were humans, before there were animals, before there were Olympians even, there were Titans.

We have definitely talked about this before.

Right.

Yes, well, I just wanted to remind everybody, Titans are the gods before the Olympians.

Olympians are Zeus and his squad.

Got it?

Okay, good.

So today, we're going to focus on a pair of Titan brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus.

The older brother, brother, Prometheus, was smart and cunning.

He was known for being a trickster.

Prometheus was a Titan associated with fire.

His name, translated literally, means foresight.

Epimetheus, the younger brother, was not quite as smart as his older brother.

The name Epimetheus translates to hindsight or afterthought.

He was the Titan god of excuses.

Well, that's not the best title I've ever heard, but luckily, Epimetheus had his big brother around to guide him.

Prometheus had a hunch that things weren't going so well for the Titans, so he decided to make a truce with Zeus and join Team Olympians during the War of the Titans, and he brought Epimetheus along for the ride.

Now, after the war was over, Zeus put the brothers to work with the creation process.

That is not exactly a small task, obviously, but Prometheus had enough brains to know that when Zeus tells you to do something, you do it.

Their first job was to create all of Earth's animals and humans out of clay.

They were responsible for creating and naming all the creatures, along with giving them unique qualities and characteristics.

Epimetheus went first and created all the animals.

He wanted to do a great job to impress Zeus, so he gave the animals everything they would need to thrive in the new world.

Things like strength and speed and the ability to swim and jump and fly.

But before long, Epimetheus realized he might have gone a little bit overboard.

There was hardly anything left for Prometheus to give to the humans.

He had forgotten that mankind was supposed to be the greatest creature of them all.

Sorry, Prometheus, but I may have given the animals all the good stuff.

I don't know how you're going to top the ferocity of a tiger.

It just seems unlikely, but good luck.

But Prometheus wasn't about to be undone by his little brother.

He decided to make man in the image of the gods, and he made him the first creature to stand upright on two feet.

He then gave man a heart and the capacity for love and compassion.

He also gave humans brains and intelligence so they could think before they acted instead of just following instincts.

He was quite proud of his creation.

But it still felt like something was missing.

Prometheus was looking for that special something, something that would set mankind apart from all the other creatures, something totally and completely unique.

Mojo.

Excuse me?

Prometheus was looking to give mankind some mojo.

According to Webster's dictionary, mojo is a noun best defined as a magic charm, talisman, or spell.

But in this case, we can use it to mean a special something.

Extra.

Yeah, I know what mojo is i just didn't know that you knew what it was i know everything

apparently so yes prometheus wanted to give mankind some mojo and he had the perfect thing in mind fire yes fire imagine if you'd only ever seen fire as something destructive something that was an uncontrollable force that burned down forests and swept across grasslands killing everything in its path now imagine that suddenly you were taught how to control it.

Now you can cook food.

You can keep yourself warm on a cold night.

You can protect yourself against predators.

You have a light in the darkness.

It's a big deal.

And Prometheus was already really good with fire.

It just made sense.

Yes, Prometheus thought to himself, fire would be the perfect gift for mankind.

There was just one small problem.

Zeus.

Absolutely not, Zeus replied when Prometheus asked him if he could give fire to the men he had created.

But fire will help them survive.

I know they can handle it.

I gave them all this intelligence and taught them to prepare and think ahead.

Having fire will only help them reach their full potential.

With it, they will do great things.

You mistake me for someone who cares about mankind's potential.

Fire is for the gods alone, because only gods can handle such a dangerous thing.

My answer is no.

But Prometheus was not one to take orders easily.

He knew that fire was essential for mankind's survival, and after creating and bonding with people, he had already realized just how special they were.

He wanted to give them their best shot.

So Prometheus made what would turn out to be a huge mistake.

He did the thing Zeus told him not to do.

In the dead of night, Prometheus broke into Mount Olympus and stole fire from Hephaestus' workshop.

He hid the flame in the stalk of a hollow plant called fennel and carried it back to mankind unseen.

Hephaestus was the Olympian god of fire and stone masonry.

He was a blacksmith for the gods and made weapons for everyone on Mount Olympus.

When the humans saw the flames, they were amazed.

Wow!

They had never been so close to something as wondrous or as powerful as fire.

Prometheus spent all night teaching them how to use it, educating them in all the ways this mysterious element could benefit them.

Predictably, Zeus did not share mankind's excitement.

He was having a nice dinner with his Olympian pals when he saw, from a distance, the glow of forbidden fire down on Earth.

You have stolen from the gods, he shouted when he finally caught up to Prometheus.

Now you will pay the price.

And Zeus banished Prometheus to the deserted Caucasus Mountains.

The Caucasus Mountains are located between the Black and Caspian Sea in the countries now known as Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

Prometheus was chained to a rock and left there without food or water.

This alone would have been punishment enough, but what Zeus had in mind was a fate worse worse than death.

The term, a fate worse than death, is highly subjective.

Some people would argue there is no such thing.

Okay, well, every day an eagle was sent to attack Prometheus.

The bird would claw at him and eat his liver.

But every evening, because Prometheus was immortal, his wounds would heal and his liver would grow back just in time for the eagle to attack him all over again the next day.

Eagles' talons are extremely strong and sharp, and when they attack, some eagles can dive through the air at 100 miles an hour.

I would concur that this punishment is, in fact, a fate worse than death.

Exactly.

It's pretty horrible, that's for sure.

Especially when you consider that Zeus sentenced Prometheus to this fate for all eternity.

And Prometheus, who also had the gift of foresight, knew this would happen again and again and again.

But don't worry, Prometheus only had to endure it for, go, give or take, a thousand years before Hercules came to the rescue.

Heracles.

Yeah, right.

Sorry.

Heracles.

Heracles saved him.

This encounter was mentioned in Greaking Out Season 3.

Heracles did not actually free Prometheus.

Fair point.

Zeus's chains proved too tough for even the mighty Heracles to break.

The hero did manage to shoot down the giant eagle that was tormenting Prometheus daily, but the Titan still stayed stayed chained for all eternity.

And Zeus still wasn't done.

And with that, I think this is a good place for a commercial break.

I mean, not that there's ever really a good place for a commercial break, but if there was to be a good place, this would probably be it.

Anyway, we'll be back in a little bit.

Just take a break.

Hi, I'm Bethany Van Delf, host of the 10 News.

10 minutes of news and fun for the new generation of curious thinkers.

We're here to help you make sense of the world.

By talking to experts like Dr.

Gabby Wilde from National Geographic Kids, we actually work with species all over the world.

We'll make sure to keep you informed and entertained.

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcast.

Zeus really couldn't do more to Prometheus than he was already doing, but he was angry and he wanted to punish Prometheus' precious mankind.

He even wanted to punish Epimetheus for not stopping his brother from stealing the fire in the first place.

So he decided to create something that would punish them both.

Her name was Pandora, and she was the very first woman.

Fun fact, Pan means many,

and Dora means gifts.

She was the woman with all the gifts.

Right.

You see, Zeus wanted to create a creature that the world had never seen before.

And you have to remember that at this point in time, the world had never seen a woman before.

Only men, and they were fairly new to the scene as well.

Zeus crafted Pandora carefully, giving her many good qualities.

He even asked the other gods to give her some of their best traits and characteristics.

Athena gave her needlework.

Aphrodite blessed her with beauty, and Hermes gave her the power of speech.

But Zeus also gave her something else.

Curiosity.

Before Pandora, man was not a curious creature.

He just did what he was told and didn't care about learning more about the nature of things or anything.

Humans were intelligent, but not introspective or ambitious.

In other words, they didn't feel the need to learn how the world worked or why things were the way they were.

They just existed.

Zeus knew that curiosity could lead to dangerous things, and he knew that Epimetheus wasn't smart enough to understand the power of a curious mind, which is why he considered Pandora to be the perfect punishment.

He knew it was only a matter of time before her curiosity began to wreak havoc on both Epimetheus and mankind in general.

And it's important to point out that prior to this, mankind had a fairly easy life with no havoc to speak of.

They didn't have to deal with death or illness or hunger or pain.

They didn't think to be grateful for this.

This is just how they knew the world to be.

It was what they had come to

But Zeus wanted all that to end.

He now wanted mankind to know pain and suffering.

He wanted to put limitations on the human experience.

It was Zeus's wish that Pandora be the one to introduce this chaos into the world of man.

It is worth noting that there are many creation stories from many different religions and cultures that all portray women as a reason for humanity's downfall.

This is inaccurate and historically unsupported.

You know, you raise an interesting point here, Oracle.

Why do you think that is?

Most likely, because the stories were all written and told by men.

When you read or listen to a story, it is helpful to also consider the point of view of the person who tells it.

Okay,

suddenly I feel a little self-conscious.

Then I have made my point.

Mission accomplished.

Well, I'm glad you're here to keep me thinking critically, Oracle.

It is what I do.

Right.

So, after Pandora was created, Zeus offered her as a bride to Epimetheus.

Epimetheus was excited about this offer from Zeus and eagerly agreed to the marriage, despite the fact that Prometheus had warned him never to accept any gift from the Olympians.

He lacked the foresight to realize that this unexpected kindness from Zeus could very easily be a trap.

Classic Epimetheus.

I present present to you Pandora, the first of all women, said Zeus.

She is to be your wife.

Pandora walked timidly over to Epimetheus as Zeus placed a sealed jar in his hands.

This jar is to be Pandora's dowry.

It is a very valuable gift from the gods, but I warn you, do not, under any circumstances, open this jar.

A dowry is a gift of money or valuable property to the groom from the bride's family on their wedding day.

It is a common practice in some cultures, even to this day.

In this story, the gift is actually a decorative jar, according to ancient texts, not a box.

Epimetheus, deciding he had endured enough trouble in his life already, quickly agreed he would not open the jar.

And while Zeus had hoped that Pandora would wreak havoc on Epimetheus, the two actually went on to have a lovely marriage.

They were a good pair and truly enjoyed one another's company.

Pandora was a good person.

She was strong, intelligent, and caring.

The only thing that bothered Epimetheus was Pandora's relentless curiosity.

She was always wondering about things.

I'd like to remind our listeners that this is not necessarily a bad thing.

Curiosity is often an indicator of advanced intelligence.

Right you are, Oracle.

But Zeus had set up this jar situation with just the right amount of secrecy and mystery.

So it was exactly calculated to turn this curiosity into a bad thing.

You see, Pandora just couldn't let it go.

Why had Zeus given Epimetheus the jar if he wasn't allowed to open it?

Why would her dowry go to waste?

What's so special about a jar?

And most importantly, what could possibly be inside?

Pandora repeatedly asked Epimetheus to open the jar, but he always refused.

He did not seem to to have a curious bone in his body.

So one night, Pandora took a knife and took the jar outside into the garden.

Under the pale moonlight, Pandora pushed the knife under the lid and slowly, very slowly, opened the jar.

Pandora felt spirits, dozens and dozens of spirits, fly out of the jar and brush against her face like the wind of a great storm.

She was gripped with terror as she saw horrible things that were stored inside of this box.

Things like fear, sadness, anger, envy, poverty, pain, illness, and death.

One after another, they flew out of the jar, racing away towards the dark sky.

In a panic, Pandora tried to close the jar, but it was too late.

The container was practically empty.

Only one thing remained.

It was a small, fragile thing.

It was hope.

Pandora sat on the ground, tears rolling down her face, clinging to hope with all her might.

Well, Epimetheus woke up after hearing all the commotion.

What's wrong?

He exclaimed as he ran out into the darkness.

What happened?

Pandora nodded towards the empty jar.

They've escaped.

Every single one of them.

All the bad things you could think of, they've escaped.

And it's all my fault.

Epimetheus saw the devastation and realized what Zeus had done.

But he still had a gift he hadn't given yet.

He looked at his wife and decided to offer her something just as rare.

Forgiveness.

It's okay, he whispered.

Look at your hands.

You see what you're holding?

We still have hope.

We will always have hope.

And Epimetheus was right.

After that night, mankind was forced to endure terrible things.

But they still had the one thing they needed to get through it all.

They still had hope.

That's it for this week's episode of National Geographic Kids Greaking Out.

Don't forget to tune in next week when the Olympians have a big, big problem.

Listen, and you'll see it

National Geographic Kids Greaking Out is written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes and hosted by Kenny Curtis, with Tori Kerr as the oracle of Wi-Fi, audio production and sound design by Scotty Beam, and our theme song was composed by Perry Gripp.

Dr.

Diane Klein is our subject matter expert and Emily Everhart is our producer.