Prometheus: the trickster who stole fire and paid with his liver

In Greek myth the Titan Prometheus (“Forethought”) is a clever trickster who gave humanity fire and metalworking. For this theft Zeus chained him to a rock where an eagle ate his liver each day. Prometheus had been a ringleader in the ten‑year Titan‑Olympian war but switched sides when the Titans ignored his advice to use trickery. In some versions he fashioned the first man from clay; in others he stole fire from Hephaestus and Athena, hiding it in a fennel stalk to deliver it to mortals.