Flame On!

Give me food, and I will live.

Give me water, and I will die.

What am I?

Fire. An element of nature that has helped us since the beginning of civilization. It is a devourer of darkness, a beacon of light, and the strongest of all.

Fire is used in everything today. Want cooked food? Turn on the gas. Fire. Feeling cold? Light fire. Want to add decorations? Light candles. Fire. We all know no one can survive without fire, but do you know how fire emerged and became known to humankind?

The incident dates back to a millennium ago. According to Greek historians, it happened after the great war between gods and titans. But this is not about the war it’s about a warrior. Prometheus, a titan as old as time itself whose name meant forethinker, meaning he always thought of the future, like tomorrow, next week, next year, or next hundred years, and his brother Epimetheus whose name meant after thinker, always thought about yesterday, last week, last year that he was never worried about what might come. The titan brothers were on the side of the gods. so they didn’t end up in the imprisonment of Tartarus, a prison for immortals. Instead, they were tasked with creating several animals to populate the Earth. Epimetheus assembled all sorts of creatures while Prometheus co-ordinated the whole production process. Every animal was given a talent, the talent to fly, to swim, strength, speed, flexibility, etc.

But the man was saved for last since they wanted to do something special with it. However, after shaping man they realized that all the talents had already been given, so Prometheus asked the goddess of wisdom, Athena, if she could do something, she was so marveled by the titans’ work that she blessed us with her divine breath. (Wait a minute all it took to bring mankind to life was a sneeze. Damnnn) and so humans were born however Prometheus wasn’t happy. Humans were supposed to be his greatest creation (Collar up like you are flexing) but all he saw were some smarter monkeys. Humans lived in caves, killed animals, ate fruits that fell from trees, and were frightened of darkness. Athena advised introducing our main character of the story (Drumroll) FIRE. So during the night, Prometheus went to the sun god Helios Suncar (which I’m guessing was a Lamborghini since gods were well godly rich). Waiting for dawn and lit the torch which he was giving to humanity. With the fire, began the great development, man created tools, cooked food, torches, etc. Prometheus was finally satisfied, he was humanity’s patron. 

Have you ever wondered that whenever you think everything will be okay, something wrong happens? That is exactly what happened. Zeus, king of gods, heard of these creatures and ordered them to honor the gods with sacrifices. Prometheus interceded on behalf of humanity so that his creations would not be exploited. He killed a bull and divided the sacrifice into 2 piles, one was smaller but had the best meat covered by the animal’s skin, the other one was bigger, but it only had bones and worthless entrails, however, they were wrapped in fat which made it look good and appealing. The cunning Prometheus knew that Zeus’s ego would lead him to pick the bigger pile and so a man would end up with the best part. That is exactly what happened until Zeus got to know he was tricked and took fire away from mankind. Without fire, they became regressed and started fearing darkness again.

Angered, Prometheus decided to steal the fire and returned it to mankind. That same night, Prometheus waited for all gods to fall asleep and then went into full robber mode, and stole the fire from Hestia’s royal hearth. Some say that Hestia gave it away willingly because she was impressed with Prometheus’ kind-heartedness and others say he went into full James Bond mode and stole it.  With fire, humanity started flourishing yet once again, but the bright flames of that night got Zeus’s attention. Furious, Zeus decided that Prometheus will be punished due to his actions. 

He tricked Prometheus into tying himself upon a rock with unbreakable chains in Cochise. As soon as he tied himself he asked Zeus, “Whoa aren’t you gonna help me out”. He replied, “No instead I am going to teach you a lesson, you don’t mess with me, ok goodbye.” Right after Zeus left, a vulture came to Prometheus and ripped his liver out, being immortal it grew back at the end of the day, but the vulture came again. He served this punishment, for many years, until Zeus came again to Earth one day and asked him, “Wassup! ‘I’ve got a deal for you, I will free you from this prison of yours only if you hide the fire from mankind”. Prometheus immediately disagreed saying that he didn’t regret the decision of giving fire to mankind, even after this grave punishment. Zeus went away leaving Prometheus there for another millennium when his son and pride, Hercules freed him from the chains.

Prometheus became a beloved figure in mythology for his heroic act, wisdom, and of course the risk he took to give humanity fire. As a hero, rebel or trickster Prometheus remains a symbol of our capacity to capture the powers of nature, and ultimately he reminds us of the potential of individual acts to ignite the world.

So now you know the origin of the fire and how without it we would cower in caves, shivering and scared of darkness. But fire even symbolizes our endless capacity for hope and light. So go ahead light a fire that even darkness can’t kill. Turn your inner flame on.