Information about the authors:
Anna V. Protopopova
Anna V. Protopopova, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya 25 a, 121069 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4461-3349
E-mail:
Ivan A. Protopopov
Ivan A. Protopopov, PhD in Philosophy, Assistant Professor, Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation, Bolshaya Morskaya 67 A, 190000 St. Petersburg, Russia.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2242-5512
E-mail:
Abstract:
The article deals with the creation of a man from clay as an element of the Prometheus myth. This variation is clearly present in such early sources as Hesiod and Aesop, in classical antiquity — in Ovid and Properce; overall, it remains a rarity. In late antiquity it becomes more popular (Pausanias, Hygin, Lucian). Sometimes Prometheus is replaced by Hephaestus, sometimes it comes together with the Pandora myth, but the moment of bringing life to the clay figure is usually unclear. This mouth is so present in the “Mythologies” by Fulgentius (5–6 AD): his retelling of the myth as well as his interpretation are quite special. It is in fact a contamination of the previous versions (stealing fire and giving it to humans, ascent to heaven, creation of a man from clay, Athena’s helping out, Pandora, damnation for the stealing etc). The reason he stole the fire in “Mitologiae” is of particular interest: he aimed to bring life to the clay figure, not to help the mankind in its everyday life. The Fulgentian etymology of Prometheus’s name is analyzed along with the allegory of the kite. A special attention is paid to the philosophical meaning of the fire that brings a man to life.