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Prometheus Quotes

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Prometheus Quotes

“One must seriously doubt the story that Prometheus did not expect the vulture. It is far more likely, according to modern psychology, that it was entirely for the purpose of being pecked in the liver that he stole the fire of heaven. He was a masochist; masochism, like eye coloring, is an inborn trait and nothing to be ashamed of; one should matter-of-factly indulge it and utilize it for the good of society.”

MythologyMasochismPrometheus
Book:A Perfect Vacuum
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“Heavenly Fire by Stewart Stafford The Stygian hole of abandon, Overlaid with a sentry 's cloak, Now unmasked eyes can see, Perforations in astral ermine. Stars crash to this plain, In all their splintered finery, As a missive of mortal status, Decreeing fire is not of this earth. Like the casting down of Lucifer, Or Prometheus pirating Zeus's flame, And when giant reptiles vanished, Quiet gratitude for this deep shelter. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved”

StarsFireGreek MythologyDinosaursLuciferPrometheusShooting StarsFalling StarsFalling StarStar Poem
Author:Stewart Stafford
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“The stories abounded, both recounting these cross-continental journeys and perhaps inspiring them – how Hellenic Jason gathered his Argonauts together (including Augeas, whose vast stables Herakles would be forced to clean) for adventure and profit, how he stopped off along the Bosphorus and discovered the land of the rising sun before other Greek heroes headed to Asia in search of Helen, Troy and glory. In the Homeric epics we hear of Jason travelling east where he tangles with Medea of Colchis, her aunt Circe and the feisty Amazon tribe. Lured by the promise of gold (early and prodigious metalworking did indeed take place in the region – perhaps sparking the Greek idea that the East was ‘rich in gold’) and then detained by the potions and poisons of Princess Medea, Jason succeeded in penetrating the Caucasus – a land which, in the Greek mind, wept with both peril and promise. It was here that Prometheus was chained to a rock with iron rivets for daring to steal fire from the gods. Archaeology east of Istanbul demonstrates how myth grazes history.”

CirceIstanbulPrometheusGreek MythMedeaHelen Of TroyCross Cultural ExchangesCross Continental JourneysHistory Meets Myth
Book:Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities
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“Childhood is bound like the Gordian knot with my memories of the Black Sea, and I still feel its waters welling up within me today. Sometimes these waters are leaden, as grey as the military ships that sail on their curved expanses, and sometimes they are blue as pigmented cobalt. Then would come dusk, when I would sit and watch the seabirds waver to shore, flitting from open waters to the quiet empty vastlands in darkening spaces behind me, the same birds Ovid once saw during his exile, perhaps; and the same waters the Argonauts crossed searching for the fleece of renewal. And out in the distance, invisible, the towering heights of Caucasus, where once-bright memories of the fire-thief have transmuted into something weird and many-faceted, and beyond these, pitch-black Karabakh in dolorous Armenia.”

Greek MythologyJasonPrometheusOvidAlexander The GreatArgonautsBlack SeaGordian KnotGolden Fleece
Book:The Heretic Emperor
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“Come and join the Church of the Serpent. Learn the philosophy of the snake and slough off the old, failed skin of humanity. Don’t you want to be one of the Prometheans, the HyperHumans, the Faustians? Don’t you want to complete the journey from Cimmeria (Alpha) to Hyperborea (Omega)? Only the Serpent Humans can bring all of humanity to the most precious fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and confer Absolute Knowledge on everyone. Only through the Serpents will you achieve gnosis. Join usssssssssss.”

PhilosophyKnowledgeGnosisPrometheusSnakeFaustianHyperboreaCimmeriaChurch Of The Serpent
Book:The Church of the Serpent: The Philosophy of the Snake and Attaining Transcendent Knowledge
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“How could poetry and literature have arisen from something as plebian as the cuneiform equivalent of grocery-store bar codes? I prefer the version in which Prometheus brought writing to man from the gods. But then I remind myself that...we should not be too fastidious about where great ideas come from. Ultimately, they all come from a wrinkled organ that at its healthiest has the color and consistency of toothpaste, and in the end only withers and dies.”

MenShouldWritingIdeasEndsDiesLiteratureColorStoresBarsVersionsCodeOrgansConsistencyGroceriesGreat IdeaGrocery StoresToothpastePrometheusFastidiousCuneiform
Author:Alice Weaver Flaherty
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“Nietzche . . . he was a confirmed Life Force worshipper. It was he who raked up the Superman, who is as old as Prometheus; and the 20th century will run after this newest of the old crazes when it gets tired of the world, the flesh, and your humble servant.”

WorldRunningForceCenturyTiredHumbleFleshServant20th CenturyWorshippersPrometheusCraze
Book:The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more
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“We always worry that we are copying someone else, that we don't have our own style. Don't worry. Writing is a communal act. Contrary to popular belief, a writer is not Prometheus alone on a hill full of fire. We are very arrogant to think we alone have a totally original mind. We are carried on the backs of all the writers who came before us. We live in the present with all the history, ideas, and soda pop of this time. It all gets mixed up in our writing.”

ThinkingWritingMindIdeasBeliefWorryFireStyleOriginalsPopsContraryHillsArrogantLive In The PresentCopyingSodaPrometheusContrary To Popular BeliefSoda Pop
Book:Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
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“It is not enough to demand insight and informative images of reality from the theater. Our theater must stimulate a desire for understanding, a delight in changing reality. Our audience must experience not only the ways to free Prometheus, but be schooled in the very desire to free him. Theater must teach all the pleasures and joys of discovery, all the feelings of triumph associated with liberation.”

WayArtEnoughFeelingsRealityJoyDesireArtistUnderstandingPleasureTeachAudienceDemandDiscoveryTragedyTheaterDelightInsightLiberationTriumphAlienationSchooledInformativePrometheusChanging Reality
Author:Bertolt Brecht
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“Blind hope. Blind hope is all we have. There's a Greek tragedy called Prometheus Bound; Prometheus is the [titan] that gave humans fire. He's chained to a rock and bemoaning his fate and saying, "I gave you everything. By giving you fire, I gave you blind hope. By giving you a little light that kept you warm at night, I let you believe that this was all going to be okay." For me, that's what art has been. Music and books, it's an act of hope to make them, and it's an act of hope to listen to them. That hope will be dashed, you will say goodbye.”

GivingBelieveHumansLittlesHas BeensArtBookLightNightFireFateRocksOkayTragedyBlindBoundsWarmGreekGoodbyeSaying GoodbyeChainedTitansGreek TragedyPrometheus
Author:Torquil Campbell
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“Theirs is the banner in my hand. And I wish I had the power to tell them that the despair of their hearts was not to be final, and their night was not without hope. For the battle they lost can never be lost. For that which they died to save can never perish. Through all the darkness, through all the shame of which men are capable, the spirit of man will remain alive on this earth. It may sleep, but it will awaken. It may wear chains, but it will break through. And man will go on. Man, not men. ~Equality 7-2521 (as Prometheus), pgs 103-104”

MenHeartMayHandsEarthSpiritNightLostWishSleepBreakDarknessAliveGoes OnBattleDespairCapableDiedShameFinalsChainsBreak ThroughBannerWithout HopePrometheus
Book:Anthem
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“And yes,Percy,of course they are now in our United States. Look at your symbol,the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center,the Greek facades of our government builidings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not proeminently displayed, in multiple places. Like it or not-and believe me,plenty of people weren't very found of Rome,either-America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West.And so Olympus is here.And we are here.”

PeopleBelieveLooksHeartStatesGovernmentAmericaCoursesFoundUnitedCitiesUnited StatesWestSymbolsPlentyGreekFlamesRomeBelieve In MeMultipleStatuesEaglesGreat PowerFacadeZeusOlympianAmerican CitiesOlympusPrometheusRockefeller Center
Author:Rick Riordan
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“And Prometheus was flying directly toward them. William Shakespeare shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Now, I've never been a warrior,and I know little about tactics,but shouldn't we be flying in the other direction?" They were close enough now to see the wide-eyed anpu in the nearest craft. "We will," Prometheus said. "Just as soon as the missiles explode." "Which missiles?" Shakespeare asked. "The two just behind us.”

KnowsLittlesSaidTwoEnoughBehindsWideFlyingCraftsWarriorSeatsTacticsMissilesPrometheus
Author:Michael Scott
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“To business."Tux Dude extended his hand. "I am Prometheus." I was too surprised to shake."The fire-stealer guy?The chained-to-the-rock-with-the-vultures guy?" Prometheus winced. He touched the scratches on his face."Please, don't mention the vultures. But yes, I stole fire from the gods and gave it to your ancestors. In return, the ever merciful Zeus had me chained to a rock and tortured for all eternity.”

HandsFacesGuyFireRocksReturnPleaseEternityShakesTouchedAncestorScratchesMercifulZeusChainedVulturePrometheusStealers
Author:Rick Riordan
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“Geology is part of that remarkable dynamic process of the human mind which is generally called science and to which man is driven by an inquisitive urge. By noticing relationships in the results of his observations, he attempts to order and to explain the infinite variety of phenomena that at first sight may appear to be chaotic.”

MenMindFirstsHumansMayHas BeensScienceOrderProcessResultsFireTreeTypeCivilizationEatingScientistSightInfiniteDrivenStealingObservationVarietyRemarkableHeavenlyUrgesProgressiveHuman MindAdamAcheChaoticNoticingGeologyInquisitivePrometheusTree Of Knowledge
Author:Reinout Willem van Bemmelen
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