Forum Topic
EGR101
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012You cannot tell the story of Prometheus without mentioning the roles of Pandora & Herakles. Read this excerpt:
PROMETHEUS was the Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel who was entrusted with the task of moulding mankind out of clay. His attempts to better the lives of his creation brought him into direct conflict with Zeus. Firstly he tricked the gods out of the best portion of the sacrificial feast, acquiring the meat for the feasting of man. Then, when Zeus withheld fire, he stole it from heaven and delivered it to mortal kind hidden inside a fennel-stalk. As punishment for these rebellious acts, Zeus ordered the creation of Pandora (the first woman) as a means to deliver misfortune into the house of man, or as a way to cheat mankind of the company of the good spirits. Prometheus meanwhile, was arrested and bound to a stake on Mount Kaukasos where an eagle was set to feed upon his ever-regenerating liver (or, some say, heart). Generations later the great hero Herakles came along and released the old Titan from his torture.
~ end of excerpt ~
http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanPrometheus.html
Most interesting part here: Promey stealing the "best portion of the sacrificial meat for feasting of man." The gods feasting on man? In the context of the ALIEN movie, this is, well, use your darkest imagination.
The "unleashing of Pandora on man" part sounds sexist & misogynistic, but I wonder if Ridley & team expand that idea, or turn it on its head. Scott's movies often feature strong, positive portrayal of women. But read that part again: Gods created Pandora to deliver misfortune to Mankind. This resembles the numerous plot speculations in which God in his rage unleashes the Xenos on humans. But the female aspect of the Greek tale is interesting.
There is a happy ending to the Prometheus saga with Herakles coming to rescue & releasing Promey from his chained existence. I wonder if Ridley includes this in the movie.
15 Replies
pjr
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012Funny, I myself just posted something about this topic! What I'm latching onto in your telling of the myth is Prometheus's job was to mold mankind out of clay. There are 2 characters mentioned in this movie who were first called mechanics, then engineers. Mechanics, in addition to repairing things also build things, and of course engineers design things to be built. I still think that could be the space jockey.
Biomechanic
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012I posted a really neat cartoon about Prometheus that I found here: [url=http://www.prometheus-movie.com/community/forums/topic/519]Sympathy for the Devil[/url]
Really very entertaining and I really recommend watching it.
Hammerhans
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012But who is Zeus? He punishes Prometheus (SJ`s ?) for being too gentle to mankind. Maybe Prom gave us technology to balancing some power, cause he cared about the right relation between all kind of beings. And now Zeus at least wants us to worship him, cause now he is aware of us.
Btw: A german philosopher (Hans Jonas) did write in his main work about prometheus that "every new technology brings new illness to the world".
I think the trailer revealed near to nothing. I really looking forward for that movie.
I have so much confidence in Scott. He surely did make a great job.
pjr
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012I like what you said about the trailer revealed next to nothing. Even though it looks great and is fascinating to analyze, I think there's so much more in this movie that's about "everything" I think the trailer was geared for Alien fans, showing a good deal of the scenes that will tie into it.
Gehirn
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012My attitude is, if this film was about creation alone, Ridley would of called it 'God' instead. That's why I'm glad to see threads like these that try to underline the difference.
1) Prometheus created and loved mankind more than the Gods. Not women or humanity as a whole, etc.
2) There is more than one God under greek mythology. And Prometheus was good at annoying them.
3) Prometheus was the "thinker". A real genius.
If you were to take any of these points and compare them literally with the Alien theme, you could say that #1 is about sexuality, #2 is about Godly conflict and #3 is just redundant.
Alien explored #1 already with male pregnancy. I think Prometheus is about #2, because I doubt it will be about the humans or a single God alone. We see two different alien ships in the trailer but only one ever gets mentioned (the 'derelict'). I bet that's where the mythos ties in -- conflict between the Gods.
pjr
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012Good point, if I understand you correctly, that there's another, different alien ship in the trailer, which I've seen little mention of - the saucer-shaped one over the waterfall, which I assume is in the beginning of the movie, called I think, The Dawn of Time. I would theorize it's there working on mankind's beginnings.
pjr
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012Hold the presses! From what I've read about Pandora, in this movie she is Vickers. In writings about Pandora there is, "mention of jars or urns containing blessings and evils bestowed upon mankind", which she opens, and, she has a "deceitful nature"
pjr
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012Excuse my enthusiasm; As for who plays the role of Hercules here...well who looks kinda Herculean in the trailer - the blue guy looking at the rising jockey chair. One other possibility I can see is David. Androids can be quite strong too, and he is seen aboard the derelict ship, right?
mcy
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012In Hesiod's Theogony man is not created by the gods but just simply exists as part of creation. Prometheus's trick with giving the gods the worse part of the meat is more about sticking it to Zues and can be read as a jealous act by somebody who thinks he should be in charge (Prometheus is Zues's first cousin). Humans get the raw deal as punishment for what Prometheus does, so much that in Hesiod's Works and Days it is said that because of Prometheus we can no longer work one day to supply for the year. Basically, Prometheus is a trickster god that ruins that good life for us.
Xenophobe
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012Good thinking about Vickers opening urns etc and unleashing something, or maybe transforming/mutating people into something unseen before. . .
EGR101
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012@mcy, wow, that is a very good alternative theory!
Like that tag line in AVP (may the franchise rests in peace though): "Whoever wins (the bickering Gods), we lose"
mcy
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012Just saying there a bunch of different forms of the Prometheus myth, just like there are a bunch of versions of Pandora (heck she is not even named in some forms). Sometimes hope escapes the jar (or box dependent on which version) and sometimes it gets stuck in the jar. Whatever take on the myths Scott goes with, I just hope it is better than that cluster f*** Disney version of Hercules and that the engineers are not Tim Tebow.
walterhiller
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012why would he? this is a sci fi film, not a greek epic.
that's like saying a movie titled magnolia is going to be about flowers.
EGR101
MemberOvomorph01/14/2012@walterhiller
It's a discussion, speculations, rambling of like-minded fans. This is the fun part of being a fan, letting your imagination run wild. If you want the ultimate facts, you wait for the news on Entertainment Weekly
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