The Story of Humans and Fire

Zeus had given the task to fill the earth with living creatures to the Titan brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus. Zeus had also given them great gifts to bestow upon their creatures. Epimetheus made many animals and gave them all the good gifts. When Prometheus had carefully finished making man, all the good gifts were gone, and nothing was left for humans. The animals could run faster, hear, see, and smell bette. They also had warm coats for winter, while humans shivered in the cold. So Prometheus stole fire from the gods to give to his people. When men had fire, their thoughts rose skyward with it. They built temples, and made offerings to the gods. Zeus was pleased. Giving up the best pieces of their meat to the gods was hard on the people, so Prometheus taught humans how to cheat the gods. At this, Zeus became very angry, and chained Prometheus in irons to a rock high on a mountain. Everyday, an eagle would come down and eat his liver, which grew again at night, but neverless, so that he would undergo the same pain over and over. Zeus also sent down to earth a beautiful, but curious, woman named Pandora.