Prometheus: Archetypal Image of Human Existence
By (Author) Carl Kernyi
Translated by Ralph Manheim
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press
9th February 1998
Revised edition
United States
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Ancient religions and Mythologies
Literary studies: general
292.13
Paperback
184
Width 152mm, Height 203mm
28g
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.
"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."--Contemporary Psychology
Carl Kernyi was a professor of classics and the history of religion in his native Hungary. His works include Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter and Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, and he collaborated with C. G. Jung to write Essays on a Science of Mythology; all three books are available in Mythos paperback editions.