西方社会与文化期末要点（浙江工商）.doc

1、Prometheus Prometheus is the son of Iapetus, brother of Epimetheus. After time of the creation, he and his brother were ordered to create man to rule over the plants and all kinds of living creatures on the earth. Prometheus with his brother fashioned man from clay. Prometheus loved man so much that he risked his own life to steal fire from Olympus but was discovered by Zeus. To give him punishment, Zeus sent him to the Caucasian Mountain, chaining him to a rock, having an eagle to bite his liver which grew back daily. Suffering for centuries, Prometheus was saved by Heracles, who killed the eagle and broke the chains. 2、After the creation of the world, who decided to create a superior being? For what purpose? Eros, the god of love, son of Aphrodite, decided to create a superior being. After the creation of the world, there were luxuriant vegetation and all kinds of living creatures covering the newborn Earth. Eros let Prometheus and his brother to endow them with instincts and in order to rule over the other creatures, and Eros wanted the two brothers to create a superior being called man. Man were made by the image of the god, filled with spirit of life and endowed with a soul. Man being the ruler of all creatures, things on the earth could be well-ruled and the world would be more complete. 3、How do you think of Prometheus? Why did he pay such high price to bring fire to human beings？ Prometheus is the son of Iapetus, brother of Epimetheus. After the creation of the world, Eros bade Prometheus and his brother create and endow a superior being called man to rule over all the others. They fashioned man form clay. Prometheus was very kind and merciful, for he observed man and longed to bestow upon him great power; he was very brave and adamantine, for he stole heavenly fire for man and suffered from torture for centuries. He was to man what a mother was to her children. In order to let his man to have fire, which was the possession and prerogative of gods and the