Prometheus: The Ancient Frankenstein
Chained to a mountain crag, awaiting the visit of an eagle, whose sharp, curved beak gouged out his immortal live everyday, Prometheus was condemned to eternal suffering. Unable to protect his loved ones from a hideous monster of his own creation, Frankenstein was forced to helplessly endure the violent deaths of his family and friends, and his own failing health as he attempted to avenge them. Save for the immense suffering heaped upon the titular characters, there seem to be few similarities; Prometheus is an ancient Greek myth attempting to explain the origin of man and knowledge, while Frankenstein is a Gothic novel written in the heyday of Romanticism; indeed, the two stories would rarely be mentioned in the same breath. However, Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, in the tradition of Romantic writers invoked the inspirational works of the Greeks and their universal themes by including an alternate title to Frankenstein: she also called her dark novel The Modern Prometheus. Before the reader has even absorbed the first word of the text, Shelley already acknowledges the parallel between the Greek myth and her own “hideous progeny” (Shelley Introduction), thus incorporating another work into her novel. This is perhaps the most striking example of intertextual inclusion, given that from the very beginning the reader is alerted to the general theme of the text: the desperate pursuit of knowledge, and the suffering that proceeds from such dark discoveries, which perhaps provides a comment on the inevitable tragedy of the human condition.
Frankenstein as a monster has become a cultural icon: his menacing, uncouth figure is often displayed on movie screens, either exaggerated horror films or comedic caricatures. This has distorted the paradigm with which people consider the tale of Frankenstein, the largest folly being that the name of the title has been transferred from the creator onto the creature. The true narrative in the novel, however, follows Victor Frankenstein, a young man blessed with money and amiable friends, who engineers a creature whom he subsequently abandons due to the hideousness of its feature and form. This creature, rejected by all of humankind, reacts by indulging in malicious impulses and seeks vengeance on his estranged creator by murdering everyone Frankenstein loves. After such drama has unfolded, the remainder of the novel follows Frankenstein is his fierce pursuit of revenge to kill the monster (Shelley).
Many cultures conceive a theory of origin, to explain the presence of human beings. The ancient Greeks believed Prometheus fashioned mankind from clay. However, such material left them poorly equipped for survival; therefore, Prometheus stole the sacred fire, exclusive only to the Olympian Gods, and thereby brought warmth and knowledge to the human race. For his betrayal, however, the Gods chained Prometheus to a rock, and sent an eagle to tear out his liver everyday, which regenerated every night due to his immortality. Furthermore, Zeus, the king of the gods, sent to earth a woman named Pandora, who was equipped with a box she was warned never to open. Filled with a maddening curiosity, she cracked open the jar and unleashed the scourges of humankind, such as deceit, jealousy, and old age, yet another punishment heaped upon the already tortured Prometheus (D’Aulaires).
The cause of so much misery, for both Frankenstein and Prometheus, was their creation of beings, who, once out of their creators’ control, engaged in their own independent, and ultimately destructive, actions. To gather the materials necessary to assemble his creature, Frankenstein “was forced to spend days and nights in vaults and charnel-houses” (Shelley 56). Having accomplished this, he was able to “infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing” (Shelley 60) and thus brought into existence a new being, though by unnatural means. Prometheus similarly dedicated himself to the role of creator. He “modeled man with great care” from “river clay” (D’Aulaires 71), creating a new race and new individuals. In essence, both men developed living individuals, which became the source of so much agony; this is one of the more obvious similarities between the two stories, given that one of the climactic moments in both was the creation of new beings.
Many people are unaware of the true nature of either tale; yet, a central focal point for both the main characters was to unearth knowledge, and thereby discover certain truths. Both men were gripped with an insatiable desire for knowledge, even if it violated the laws of nature. When Frankenstein, seized by an illuminating realization that allows him insight into the nature of death, begins to construct his creature, he tells of how his experiment soon morphs into an obsession. “I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation but for this one pursuit” (Shelley 58) Frankenstein ceased to eat, sleep, or correspond with his family, and instead focused all his energies on the fulfillment of his ambition, so much so that his health began to suffer. As Frankenstein describes, “Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became nervous to a most painful degree” (Shelley 60). However, none of the difficulties could obstruct Frankenstein, who admits “Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world” (Shelley 58). Clearly, Frankenstein dared to venture beyond the usual realms of academic pursuits, desiring to challenge the obscurity of death by forcing a creature from its depths, a discovery no human had ever achieved. Similarly, Prometheus allows himself to become reckless in the face of attaining knowledge humans are not privy to. Watching his creatures suffer on earth, hindered by their dull minds and weak bodies, inspired Prometheus to bestow fire upon them. He “took a glowing ember from the sacred hearth….He carried it down to earth, gave it out to mankind” (D’Aulaires 72), even though until then the gods had jealously guarded the warm flames as their own. The flames, however, transformed the humans. “A strange thing happened: as men lifted their eyes upward, their thoughts rose with it up to the heavens. They began to wonder and think and were no longer earth-bound clods” (D’Aulaires 72) Clearly, Prometheus longed to lift the mantle of ignorance that was burdening mankind, and did so with fire, ushering in the advent of knowledge. Thus, both Frankenstein and Prometheus defied the conventional boundaries of thought in pursuit of attaining forbidden knowledge, and this thirst for knowledge led to inevitable- and agonizing- suffering.
Individuals are often the victims of their own ambitions; Frankenstein and Prometheus serve to prove this in the most extreme manner. For their illicit acquirement of knowledge, they were both severely punished. Frankenstein’s monster, angered at being ostracized by the human race, vows to wreak vengeance on his negligent creator. He threatens Frankenstein, crying “your hours will pass in dread and misery…you shall repent of the injuries you inflict” (Shelley 146). Indeed, the creature fulfills his dreadful promise, as he ultimately murders each person Frankenstein loved, including his brother, best friend, and wife. Compounded with the emotional guilt that he indirectly killed many innocent, well-loved people, Frankenstein must endure physically taxing conditions as he travels through the far north to hunt his creation. He describes that he would be “overcome by hunger, sunk under exhaustion, …. parched by thirst” (Shelley 174). Thus, Frankenstein endures so much suffering that he wonders “Why did I not die? More miserable than man ever was before, why did I not sink into forgetfulness and rest?” (Shelley 153). Clearly, Frankenstein’s life has been rendered so unbearable by his miseries and guilt, which has manifested his body completely, that he no longer wants to continue living. Prometheus is likewise punished for his treasonous spread of fire and knowledge. “Prometheus was chained to the top of the Caucasus Mountains” and “every day the eagle returned and he had to suffer again” (D’Aulaires 72). Obviously, Prometheus, like Frankenstein, was tortured painfully for his actions. Furthermore, not only were the two, who created their problems, punished, but other people were affected as well. In Frankenstein, his family and friends were killed by the monster; in Prometheus, humankind was punished by the “horde of miseries” (D’Aulaires 74). These include “Greed, Vanity, Slander, Envy” (D’Aulaires 74), which “continue to plague mankind to this very day” (D’Aulaires 77). Thus, both Frankenstein and Prometheus initiated a great deal of agony upon both themselves and other people with their dark knowledge, and the consequences reaped from this knowledge.
Interestingly enough, the Prometheus comparison is often overlooked; especially compared to the overwhelming allusions to John Milton’s Paradise Lost, an excerpt of which is included on the title page, in addition to many quotes throughout the book. Perhaps because Prometheus is merely mentioned once, and even then it is after an “or,” implying that its importance is optional. However, this subtle comparison is also rendered more influential as opposed to the direct references to other texts. Indeed, Frankenstein is dubbed The Modern Prometheus right in the title, thereby defining the nature and theme of the text before the narrative has even begun. Such a comparison hints to the reader how the story might unfold, and declares upright that Frankenstein will be a tale of suffering. By calling Frankenstein “Prometheus,” Shelley is transferring Prometheus’s qualities to Frankenstein, and, once again, Frankenstein’s character is established from the title. Shelley, by this simple option, informs the reader that Frankenstein is an intelligent man who becomes a creator, and who is subsequently punished by his unconventional and unnatural knowledge. This, in turn, adds another dimension to the novel, an entirely new facet; Frankenstein is not just a simple horror tale; rather, its themes are timeless and classic, rooted as they are in the ancient Greek culture. Frankenstein, furthermore, becomes modern because of all the new technology of the society in which he lives. Thus, Shelley takes a new approach to an age-old tale, yet the repetition of the name provides continuity.
A disturbing idea is presented in both Frankenstein and Prometheus: knowledge is dangerous, and human beings suffer for acquiring it, often in devastating ways. Indeed, the direction of humankind has always been bent towards acquiring new knowledge and discovering more about the world and the people as individuals and as a society. These two works, however, imply that knowledge has a limit and boundaries, outside of which humans cannot step without dire consequences; by violating the laws presented by nature, humans have overstepped their bounds and will subsequently be punished. This limit, this imposition, is a frightening and sobering thought, especially in today’s society, where the advent of technology has led to many revolutionary discoveries. The ultimate question posed, then, by both Frankenstein and Prometheus is will humans one day know too much and thus be able to control natural processes, and what will be the consequence if that happens? Humans can only hope that one day, they will know- or perhaps they should not want to know at all.
I hereby pledge that I did complete this paper in accordance with the Honor Code.
Sara Krome
Bibliography
D’Aulaires, Ingri and Edgar. Book of Greek Myths. New York City: Delacorte Press, 1962.
Shelley, Mary . Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus. New York City: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.
