Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Author(s): E. F. Beall
Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1991), pp. 355-371
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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Hesiod's Prometheusand
Developmentin Myth
E. F. Beall
was notsomegivenentity,
a conceptwith
"Hesiod'sPrometheus"
thetimesofthetwopoemswhich
properties
viewedas fixedthroughout
was a process,as it were,alreadyoperating
in
it.*Prometheus
mention
suchas
theGreekarchaicperiod,notjustin thehandsoflaterwriters
between
theTheogony
andtheWorks
and Days
Plato.The development
of thevaluesunderlying
themodeof
bespeaksa certainconsciousness
I Onemight
alsosayprovisionally
thatsomeneed
wecallmyth.
expression
to transcend
mythis impliedas well.
hasincreasingly
In ourcentury
academicthought
founditdifficult
to
in humanexistence.
ignoretheRomanticthesisthatmythis inherent
Westernphilosophers
and
Earlier,in the wakeof theEnlightenment,
ofmythandreasonin sucha
treated
thecategories
philologists
typically
historical
arenaofarchaicGreecethe
wayas to considertheparticular
tothesecondas thedominant
transition
fromthefirst
sceneofa discrete
Thatis to say,Homerand Hesiodgavewayto new
modeof thought.
thePresocratic
but
Somestilladheretothispicture,
heroes,
philosophers.
forexample,
nowwehavealsohadthephilosopher
ErnstCassirer,
present
whichalwayscompetes
withscience.To Hans Blumythas something
to
exerts"workon myth"in a continuing
attempt
menberg,
humanity
F.
M.
in
effect
held
that
tamereality.2
Classicists
suchas
Comford
have
from
theearliest
Presocratics
a stagein a continuous
growth
represented
* I have profitedfromthe commentsby Pamela Long, DorothyNaor, Sally Rogers,
DorothyRoss, Thomas Africa,Deborah Lyons,Mark Griffith,
and RichardJanko.
' The literatureattempting
to definethisconceptpreciselyamountsto a bottomless
pit,and the discussionbelow will restcontentwitha roughunderstanding:
a mythis a
storyabout anthropomorphic
beings,set in the dim past, withsymbolicimportforthe
givenculture'slifeexperience.
2 ErnstCassirer,ThePhilosophy
ofSymbolicForms,tr.Ralph Manheim(3 vols.;New
Hans Blumenberg,Workon Myth,tr.RobertM.
Haven, 1953-57),especiallyII, xiii-xviii.
Wallace (Cambridge,Mass., 1985).
355
Copyright 1991 by JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS, INC.
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356
E. F. Beall
asOr it is sometimes
bytheTheogony.3
thecreationmythexemplified
within
structures
sertedthatthearchaicGreekswereawareofunderlying
scholarAlbertCook,at
bytheliterary
In a relatedformulation
myth.4
and otherspartookof a higherphaseof
leastsomeof thePresocratics
intheearlierphase
reflection
onitsmeaning
reachedthrough
mythitself,
call myth.5
we normally
remains
withustoday,ifitisnowrespectable
ornotmyth
Butwhether
of
growth
to theintellectual
to considertheHesiodiccorpusimportant
within
itas well
development
archaicGreece,thenshouldwenotexamine
In thecase
toPresocratic
cosmogony?
ofitscreation
myths
as therelation
close
withsufficiently
wehavetwoaccounts
narratives,
ofthePrometheus
in
one
at
least
earlier
on the
to ensurethatthelatteris modelled
content
butmovement
unknown,
part.The sourcesoftheearlierare essentially
ofarchaic
as an achievement
ofinterest
fromitinthelatteris presumably
Greece.
trendin classicalscholarship
To saythisis to opposethedominant
ofa myth.Classicists
issueoftheidentification
properon theparticular
narratives
withHesiodhavetendedtoviewthetwoPrometheus
concerned
between
Thedifferences
entity.
ofthesameunderlying
accounts
as variant
desires
to
different
to
authorial
emphasize
point
them,it is held,merely
of"the"story.6
features
constitute
similarnarratives
thattwothematically
The presumption
andhereithas
be usefulas a first
approximation,
"a" storycancertainly
HowofarchaicGreekthought.7
thestructures
no doubthelpedclarify
notionthattheGreekscanonizedthestorylineof
ever,theunderlying
Principium
Sapientiae(Cambridge,1952).The olderviewofcourse
3F. M. Cornford,
remains,and is perhaps best representedby W. K. C. Guthrie,A Historyof Greek
formulation
intermediate
(6 vols.;Cambridge,1962-81),I, 26-38.A prominent
Philosophy.
is G. S. Kirk,Myth:Its Meaningand FunctionsinAncientand OtherCultures(Cambridge,
1970),238-51.
or metalingualconsciousness"and ar4E.g., mythin Homer displays"metaliterary
chaic art generallystressesthe "paradigmatic"relationsof semiotics,in the formulation
of CharlesSegal, "Greek Mythas a Semioticand StructuralSystemand the Problemof
Tragedy,"Arethusa,16 (1983), 175-78.
1980).
5 AlbertCook, Mythand Language (Bloomington,
(citedbelow),
by the leadingHesiod commentators
6This assumptionis exemplified
but a fewclassicistshave paid attentionto the so-calledvariations.For example,Ernst
bei Hesiod,"inHesiod,ed. Heitsch(Darmstadt,1966),
Heitsch,"Das Prometheus-Gedicht
419-35,uses themin an attemptto extrapolatebackwardto the presumedpre-Hesiodic
Prometheusmyth.
7 For our particular
Vernant,"The MythofPromethexample,notablyin Jean-Pierre
eus in Hesiod," in his Mythand Societyin AncientGreece,tr. JanetLloyd (New York,
1988), 183-201.He actuallyargues the unityto the extentof notingsome apparent
in these
of each storyto the other.However (and apart fromuncertainties
references
to be notedbelow), we do not, forexample,assign a jazz piece based on a
references
popularballad to the latter'sgenre,even thoughtheyhave some sequencesof notes in
common.
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357
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E. F Beall
358
and Worksand
cal studyshowsthatour own Iliad, Odyssey,Theogony,
Days use languageas if theycoalesced in that temporalorder;and we
must assume that,forthe most part,theydid.'3 Most authoritiesnow
theoral-formulaic
conventions
hold that,farfrombetraying
primitivism,
which
in
Homer
in
a
manner
at
least
enhances
the
are used
artistry.14
willhave neededto
Thus it wouldappearthatsuccessive"performances"
Recently,moreover,
respectoverallstructureregardlessof variations.15
has been stronglychalthe view thatthe Hesiodic poemslack structure
lenged,even thoughquestionscertainlyremainas to just what either
In particular,the Theogony's
Prometheus
work'scoherenceconstitutes.'6
withtheoverallpoemat thelevelofverbal
narrativeseemswellintegrated
echoesand similarnuances.17Apartfroma versehereand there,evidently
it cannothave been added afterthebulkofthework(not to mentionthe
Worksand Days) came together.
to be given,
Thus I believewe mayindeedconsiderthetwonarratives
entities.The followingtreatment
constituted
comparestheir
historically
and thendiscussesthe resultsin context.
main stagessystematically,
TrickeryversusOmniscienceor SuperiorTrickery?
The Theogony
beginsitsaccountas follows(vv. 535-70).18 Whengods
and menoriginally
divided,Prometheusdividedan ox, cheatingthemind
ofZeus. He cunningly
disguisedthemeatto look liketheskin,thebones
counsels"said mockingly
like the meat. "Zeus who knowsimperishable
thatthe divisionwas unfair,but "devious Prometheus"invitedhim to
below as a figureof speech,it does seem possiblethateach poem is the workof several
hands (or rather,voices) over a decade or so.
13 See RichardJanko,Homer,Hesiod and theHymns(Cambridge,1982). The results
forseveralstatisticaltestsoflinguisticarchaism,and I believeare inexplicaare consistent
ble on any hypothesisof conscious"archaizing"or of regionaldialectvariation.
14 The Landmarksof World
Literaturediscussionsforthenon-specialist
readerare not
incompatiblewiththepoint;see M. S. Silk,Homer,The Iliad (Cambridge,1987), 16-26;
and JasperGriffin,
Homer, The Odyssey(Cambridge,1987), 14-23.Among specialized
workI onlymentiona good studyofthatlinchpinofthe"oral" theory,thenoun-epithet
formula:Paolo Vivante,The Epithetsin Homer(New Haven, 1982).
15Cf.Griffin,
33.
16 Most recently,
RichardHamilton,The Architecture
ofHesiodicPoetry(Baltimore,
1989) givesintricateanalysesoftheaspectsofthepoemsmostoftenthoughtnotto fitan
overallstructure.
Withoutclaimingthathis contribution
willfinallysettlethematter,one
can suggestthatits prodigiousscholarshipputsthe burdenof proofon anyonedenying
coherence.
17 Notwithstanding
the appearancethat it digressesthematicallyfromthe "main"
accountof originsof the gods. Hamilton,23-40,is forthe mostpartpersuasivehere.
18 Since it is necessary
to referto the texts,I providesynopsesforthebenefitof the
non-specialist
reader(whilespellingout some keyexpressions).A numberof reasonably
intothemajorWesternlanguagesare also readilyavailable;
cogentcompletetranslations
e.g., R. M. Frazer,The PoemsofHesiod (Norman,Oklahoma,1983).
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359
counchoosehisportion.Whilerealizingthedeception,thisimperishably
portionand plannedtroubleformen.Ever
seled Zeus chose the inferior
since,men have burnedthe ox's bones forthe gods in sacrifice.Angrily
counseledZeus ceased
imperishably
chastisingPrometheus'streachery,
sending"untiringfire"to ash treesformen. However,deceivinghim,
splendor"formen,hidingit in the
Prometheusstole fire's"far-shining
splenfire'sfar-shining
hollowstalkofthenarthexplant.Seeinguntiring
Zeus," who insteadof
dor amongmen again angered"high-thundering
an evil formen.'9
fireconstructed
made use hereofspecifically
Greektraditions:
The poethas evidently
use ofthesmoldering
Prometheus'sassociationwithmen,Zeus's epithets,
thathuand perhapsrecognition
pithof the narthexto transportfire,20
trees.We also find
mans once obtainedtheirfirefromlightning-struck
mythin thegenericsense:theaetiologicaldigressionnotingtheoriginof
betweenPrometheusand the
the sacrificeand a long noticedsimilarity
so-calledTrickster.In incarnationssuch as Coyote(Native America)or
Ananse the spider(West Africa),the latteris also knownto act in an
in a waywhichyieldsdisastrous
impudentand craftyfashion,repeatedly,
consequences.2'
basis. The no
revealsa moresophisticated
But carefulconsideration
Prometheusseems,unlikeCoyote,a cut
trickster
longertheriomorphic
More importantly,
theTrickster-High
God conabove menthemselves.22
ofclashing
is cast in sharprelief:we actuallygetan impression
frontation
The
and ofangry,absoluteknowledge.23
ofstealth-concealment
principles
stresson the staminaand radianceof the stolenfiremakesan attackon
Zeus's verydivinityapparent.Finally,while in generalone can be too
quick to invokethe conceptof phallic symbol,Coyote/Ananse'sovert
19I followthe Greek textsof M. L. West,Hesiod, Theogony(Oxford,1966), and
as "West
Hesiod, Worksand Days (Oxford,1978),and cite his associatedcommentaries
507-616.Some
Also, W. J.Verdenius,"Hesiod, Theogony
I" and "WestII," respectively.
on
Commentson a Commentary,"Mnemosyne,24 (1971), 1-10,and A Commentary
Hesiod. Worksand Days,vv. 1-382(Leiden, 1985),are citedas "VerdeniusI" and "Verdenius II," respectively.
20 West I, 324-25,givessome ancientreferences
to the method.
21 For a reviewof the theoryof the Trickster,
in
see RobertD. Pelton,The Trickster
WestAfrica(Berkeley,1980), 1-24.A good collectionof actual Coyotestoriesis Barry
HolstunLopez, GivingBirthto Thunder,SleepingwithHis Daughter(Kansas City,1977);
Folk-Tales(Oxford,1930). The classiccomforAnanse,see R. S. Rattray,Akan-Ashanti
parisonwithPrometheusis Karl Kerenyi,"The Tricksterin Relationto GreekMythol(London, 1956), 173-91.
ogy,"tr. R. F. C. Hull, in Paul Radin, The Trickster
22 As is notedby JaroldRamsey,Reading theFire (Lincoln,Nebraska,1983),40-43.
However,Prometheusis not as god-likeas Zeus.
23 ApartfromZeus's (obvious)omniscience,
to hisanger
thereare actually7 references
and 12 to Prometheus'sdeviousnessin a mere36 verses,assumingthatwe read cholouat
v. 562 withWestI (Zeus neverforgothis anger),ratherthandolouas in mostMSS (Zeus
neverforgotthe deception).
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E. F Beall
360
viewofthehollowplant
phallicismis wellattested.Freud'scorresponding
stalk24
just mightpointto an abstractionof thatphallicism,even if it is
fire.In short,Prometheus
combinedwiththeplant'sutilityintransporting
thanTricksteralreadyin thispoem.
maybe closerto meta-Trickster
abstraction
here
However,we cannottellhowmuchofthe Theogony's
is originalto it and how muchto itssources,whereasthe Worksand Days
angry
innovatesin itsownright(vv. 47-59).Zeus engagedin concealment,
because crookedPrometheushad deceivedhim.25He wroughtwoe for
men. He hid fire,but "the son of Iapetus" (Prometheus)stole it from
"Zeus ofthecounsels"formen,concealingitfrom"Zeus thethunderer's"
said that,while
sightin thenarthex.In anger"Zeus thecloud-gatherer"
Prometheuswas an unsurpassedschemerand mightrejoiceoverthe deand to men.
ception,thiswouldbe to rejoiceovergreatpain to himselfr6
he
would
men
an
evil
theywould
Insteadof fire(Zeus continued)
give
love.
"So (he) spoke; and laughedout loud/ (did) the fatherof men and
gods."27
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361
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362
E. F Beall
37 See Burkert,
156-57.Thisfacetofthecharacteris notas frequent
as othersin Homer,
but Erbse,75, citesa fewcases alreadythere.
38 The differences
have been much discussed.Some have takenthemto impugnthe
segment,but see West,II, 160-64,or VerdeniusII, 54-60.They probablycorrespondto
thedifference
betweenthesymbolisms
associatedwithan originalconceptionand a final
result,respectively,
along the lines suggestedby C. J. Rowe, "'Archaic Thought' in
Hesiod," JournalofHellenicStudies,103 (1983), 124-35,on 128-30.
39 Not in Homer,but he eventually
becamegod of speech;see Burkert,158.
40Cf. Trencsenyi-Waldapfel,
105-6.
41 She was still knownas chthonicgoddessafterHesiod's time,at least in partsof
Greece.WhileneitherWestII, 164-66,norVerdeniusII, 58-59,creditstheconnectionin
the poet's mind,virtuallyall otherscholarsdo. See especiallyJoanO'Brien, "Nammu,
Mami,Eve and Pandora:'What'sin a Name?' " ClassicalJournal,79 (1983), 35-45.West
and Verdeniusappearto evictbabywithbathwaterin disputingsome misguidedspecific
formulations.
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363
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364
E. F. Beall
mademoreexplicitly
laterinthepoem.47
True,thereis precedent
ofsorts
inTrickster
forsucha development
folklore
proper.
(In particular,
Ananse
oncecutup a personnamed"hate-to-be-contradicted"
andscattered
the
thisis whyso manypeopletodayhateto
piecestobe absorbed
byothers;
be contradicted.48)
Butat theleast,ournarrative
is moreartistic.
Gynoidor FirstWoman?WisdomLiterature
or Symbolism?
TheTheogony
nowconcludes
itsaccount(vv.590-612).49
Wehearthat
ofmortalwomen,boththe
theprinciple
justcreatedwas theancestress
0 Thena fulltwenty-one
"raceandtribe"ofthesebaneful
creatures.
verses
areusedto saythat(a) womenarelikedronesina beehive,
livingoffthe
laborofothers,
andthat(b) to remainsingleor marry
comesdownto a
choicebetween
stolenbykinsmen,
dyingalonewithone'sinheritance
and
lifeofat bestalternating
inthe
goodandevilwitha woman.In contrast,
mostfamousportion
of"the"mythin either"version,"
Works
andDays
90-104tellus this.As v. 89 states,Epimetheus
knewhe had an evil;for
beforethistime,menwerefarfromdrudgery
and pain,butthewoman
itscontents,
andwrought
opened(some)"jar,""5dispersed
woeformen.
A spirit
namedElpis(usuallytranslated
"Hope,"alternatively
"Expectanot
it
did
out
before
alone
will
of
Zeus
tion"52)
fly
closed,by
(ifa disputed
verseis genuine).
Nowevilsroamamongmenbylandandbysea;diseases
comeautonomously
becauseZeus of the
by day and by night,silently
counselsremoved
theirvoices.
inthisjournaloverfourdecadesago,Frederick
In an article
published
observed
thattheTheogony's
Teggart
already
female
"doesnothprinciple
47 Vv. 293-97comparethestrengths
and failingsof he who plans in advance,he who
at leastlistensto good advice,and he who does neither.Walcot,62, suggestsa connection
betweenthe two passages,althoughhe and mostotherstake Epimetheusto be simply
stupid. That would be the latter'sreputationin later Greece, and a segmentin the
Theogony'stheogonyproperalreadycalls him "wrong-headed."However,some have
suspectedinterpolation.
Anotherviewthathe is two-sidedat leastin the Worksand Days
is thatofWilliamBerg,"Pandora:Pathologyofa CreationMyth,"Fabula, 17 (1976), 25.
48 As relayedby Rattray,106-9,and by Pelton,25-27.
49Apartfroma moral. Theogony613-16 and Worksand Days 105 are to the effect
thatone cannotfoolZeus. Neitherespeciallycalls forcomment.
50 Perhapstheimplication
is boththegeneraland theparticularofwomen;cf.Nicole
Loraux, "Sur la Race des femmeset quelques-unesde ses tribus,"Arethusa,11 (1978),
43-87. West I, 329-30,denies the authenticity
of the verse.However,his reasons are
contingent
on its beingrepetitive,
and I disagreethatthatis an issue;cf. VerdeniusI, 8.
s The reasonwe now speak,rather,of Pandora's"box" is thatErasmusconfusedthe
storiesof Pandora'spithosand Psyche'spyxis;see Dora and ErwinPanofsky,Pandora's
Box (2nd ed., Kingsport,Tennessee,1962), 14-26.
52 "Hope" may undulyimportChristianconnotations;
see mostrecentlyValdis Leinieks,"Elpis in Hesiod, Worksand Days 96," Philologus,128 (1984), 1-8,on 8.
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365
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366
E. E Beall
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367
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368
E. F. Beall
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369
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E. F. Beall
370
withGreek
thepoemsis certainly
consistent
anyeventthetrendbetween
to an
afterHomerhad at leastbeenwillingto allotpersonality
history:
socisexist
a
highly
or Penelope,classicalAthensbecame
Andromache
milieuwill have requiredpositive
For all that,the agricultural
ety.84
in personal
as comparedwithtrickery
appraisalof straightforwardness
ofa
Surelythisis whatproducedandcoloredtheemployment
relations.
context.
ethical
mythin a fundamentally
Prometheus-Zeus
FromMythto Sociology?
stillessentially
within
pointsto a development
The abovediscussion
awayfrommyth,
mightalso prefacemovement
which,however,
myth,
theworldwhichthelater
towardthemoreliteralmodesofrepresenting
oftheideathatGreek
be suspicious
Onecancertainly
Greeksconceived.
in anycontinuous
way,butanotherpossible
myth"led to" philosophy
as tonecessitate
so manifest
seeking
becoming
inadequacy
modelismyth's
alternatives.
narrative
ofthesecondPrometheus
contexts
Considertherespective
to
andthe"parallel"Adam-Evestory.Thelatterdoesleadcontinuously
itself:it is integrated
moreliteral,withintheOld Testament
something
Cain-Abel
fromtheimmediately
succeeding
history,
intoa purported
In contrast,
theGreeknarrative
storydowntotheauthor'srecentpast.85
is followedby "anotherlogos"aboutfiveraces.It is thelatterwhich
of
ordersothergenerations
roughly
situation,
beginswitha primordial
present/future.
andendswiththepoet'squotidian
menchronologically,
to see it as "myth"in thesamesense
a tendency
Thus,notwithstanding
fromthe
its treatment
of eventsin timeis different
as its antecedent,
latter's"oncegodsacted;nowwe havedisease."It actuallyreadsas if
therewerethreeevenearlier"timesofgods"beforetheonewherethey
mentioned
just priorto thepresent
in Homer'sbattlefields,
intervened
betweenmythand a theoryof
It seemsintermediate
"timeof men."86
realizedlikethenatural
haditbeenhistorically
which,
socialdevelopment
wouldnothavebeenespeinitiated,
"science"theearliestPresocratics
oriented.
ciallyempirically
84 A reviewof the relevant
literatureis PhyllisCulham,"Ten Years AfterPomeroy:
Studiesof the Image and Realityof Womenin Antiquity,"Helios, 13.2 (1986), 9-30.
85 If theso-calledDocumentary
Hypothesisis validin somethinglikeitsclassicform,
thentheassimilationto a putativehistorydownthroughtheentranceintoCanaan (which
surelyhas someactualhistoricalbasis) had alreadytakenplace a fewhundredyearsafter
that,stillsomehundredsofyearspriorto redactionofthePentateuchas we now have it.
is
and accessible,ifcursoryreference
A non-dogmatic
Of courseall thisis controversial.
JohnBright,A HistoryofIsrael (3rd ed., Philadelphia,1981), 67-74.
in sayingthatthisnarrative
86 Thus Finley,286-87,and Rowe, 132-34,are incorrect
containsno timeelementwhatever.Whileone mightdenyit thestatusof "history"since
it has deviationsfromchronologicalorder,is quite symbolic,and is less criticalthan
Herodotus,it simplyis nota mythin thegenericsenseofa concretestorywithcharacters.
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Hesiodand Myth
371
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