![]() Prometheus symbolizes the man’s ambition of striving for the greater good Snow-covered gilded Prometheus Throughout art history, Prometheus was usually dramatically depicted as a martyr receiving his awful punishment: chained to the cliff, he endured daily visits by an eagle – sent by Zeus – who came to eat his liver. Prometheus presented a pretty complex personality: a trickster who outwitted the Olympians, a rebel who defied the gods’ will, and a creator of humanity who gave us the most valuable gift. This act is hard to overestimate: the gift of fire gave humans skills, arts, and technology. Defying the rules, Prometheus stole fire and gave it back to mankind. Zeus was not amused and developed an intense animosity towards the mortals withholding fire. Making the bone pile look more appetizing, he tricked Zeus into accepting bones while leaving food to humans. ![]() Zeus required an obligatory sacrifice of a slaughtered animal, and Prometheus arranged it into two piles: eatable meat and useless bones. ![]() Before he stole fire, Prometheus made a rather misguided attempt to help humans. Prometheus was punished for stealing fire from Olympus and giving it to humans, thus, providing them with the power to make tools and advance technology, leading to civilization. Despite the inflicted torture, both Titans benefited humanity by teaching them sciences, arts, and practical skills. The uprising failed, and Zeus, as punishment, made Atlas support the sky, while Prometheus was chained to a rock, condemned to have his liver eaten by an eagle for eternity. There are only two large freestanding public sculptures in the Rockefeller center – Prometheus and Atlas – brothers who, along with other Titans, rebelled against the Gods of Olympus. The Aeschylus quote, carved in the granite wall behind the massive gilded statue of Prometheus in the heart of the Rockefeller Center, says: “Prometheus, Teacher in Every Art, Brought the Fire That Hath Proved to Mortals a Means to Mighty Ends.”īut who was Prometheus? And why is he the focal point of the Rockefeller Center? Prometheus – the focal point of the Rockefeller Center
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