Pedro Azara
In ancient times, when humans lived in the infancy of humanity, all were well aware of the myths and legends, as those created as they are told. Today, adults, scholars know only a pale reflection of the letter of the living substance of the myth: the spoken word.
Myths are stories that are told. In the beginning the learned poets of the gods, or goddesses, like the Muses, daughters of the goddess of memory. Myths are stories in which the gods men have about the rules that govern the world created and controlled by the gods, which just entered, and which remain for long. On the one hand, myths are stories not to sleep, but on the other, keeps men on alert, while preventing them from harbor too many illusions about their journey through life.
Myths are stories handed down, orally, from father to son, or bards to the community sitting around a camp fire, whose light and heat which chased away the cold and dark images that caused and evoked the stories to keep you awake the poet had. A myth is an oral. It has no text established. Only has a structure, a dash, solid fabric on which the poet weaves his tales of ghosts. The story is always the same. A myth is a never ending story, not so much because the story never ends and the hero never comes to fruition, but because the pleasure of hearing occurs, born of repetition. The myth resembles the "peplum" Penelope. Never ends. It always resumes from the point of beginning as a fabric that is woven and unwoven, forms and dissolves, leaving only a fading image.
an interpreter of myths is a storyteller, a storyteller, a fabulist. Interpret a myth is to state the prolific succession of variations that make up the substance of history, time to drive and display them all. A myth is developed in a spiral and each new twist will explore, discover, reveal previously unknown aspects, unknown keys that open the story to new perspectives, or decoding or free content maintained in a safe until then. The story turns on itself and is repeated in another key, with different shades and hues. Interpret a myth is to interpret all its variants, which together make up the permanent plot of the story, the base unchanged.
A myth only makes sense if explained. Do not have if not counted. One myth that invites not be told says nothing, has nothing to say.
If there is a myth whose latest versions arrive until today, and remains alive, that is the myth of Prometheus.
However, little is known about this god. Possibly one of the most enigmatic mythical figures. The details of origin and his life are scarce or irrelevant. No stars no legendary history, neither is the center of countless stories, and Aphrodite, Artemis, Apollo, Orpheus and Dionysus. Prometheus seems to be a tragic figure, that only exists in terms of their relationship father mediator between God and humans. Outside the scope of this dual relationship, Prometheus barely exists. We know that belongs to the second generation of gods (their origin and genealogy has not led to any relevant history) and that, contrary to his own, decided to support the new Olympian deities. The beginning of his story without poetry. Prometheus suddenly comes into play, to star in a single significant event (causing the fall of man, demarcation of the gods and beasts), and then disappear.
Prometheus was the one who took pity on men and to make life easier and reduce their inability decided to steal the fire that used Jupiter for its own sake. Thanks to him, the men learned that to keep alive the beat of the coal should cover with ashes. From this moment began to observe the world with other eyes, because they had a whim of the energy and metals can tame the glare that calls for the brotherhood of shared word.
Aeschylus tragedy gave him (or a trilogy, which is known only one party, Prometheus Bound). Somehow, Prometheus is almost the epitome of a relationship or attitude that is established between the supreme god and people (subordinate gods and humans) which are at their mercy. Prometheus is the embodiment of the complex relationship between heaven and earth.
it is perhaps why Prometheus has endured beyond the peculiarities of the features and tone of each era. Prometheus is a timeless figure, which prevails over the vagaries of time. Prometheus may be the Greek god has suffered more changes. Since the mid-seventeenth century the figure was merged with the fallen angel, although this equation you assumed any degradation or baseness. On the contrary, his stature was increasing as it taxied down the demonic path. Prometheus was bigger than Zeus, became Satan. And so, at a time when the gods fell, Prometheus endured. And perhaps even last. The latent Satanism Prometheus perhaps its most distinctive feature though more hidden, less obvious. The most immediate feature is its proximity to humans. In this case, too, the consequences of their actions were disastrous. The men were expelled from Paradise. However, it did men. Until then, it has Sophocles, carefree living. They knew their limitations, but neither knew overcome. Prometheus caused his misfortune, as away from direct contact with the gods, but awoke the divine that came from his soul. In some ways, shaped the men and taught them how to turn the brightness of mind and rise above adversity. Without the intervention of Prometheus human life had lacked color, complexity, anxiety and hope. Perhaps we would have been better.
However, Prometheus stands out for another feature that makes it interesting figure. Spend your eternal life in chains, not because, after appearing to men, they were emboldened, but because he possessed a secret that affect the life of Zeus. In this it had to happen what his father and his grandfather, born him a son who would kill him and his reign. Only Prometheus knew who was going to be the mother of the new god of Olympus, and which of their children end up with Zeus. Prometheus is the holder of a metis (intelligence) technology (pro-Métis). The fate of Zeus, the god father, above all gods, depending on Prometheus. Is above the supreme god. What miserable Zeus appears! Weak and confused, his figure is dwarfed by the minute. While he resists Prometheus, Zeus seems cowed, confused. Prometheus is the great opponent of Zeus, is the order of God. Self-made man not so much because it magnified but because God dwarfed. Prometheus the gods were no longer needed. Prometheus, molding clay idols of course, endowed with breath, they cheered and became men, Prometheus, the visionary, Prometheus, the great sculptor, the paradigm of the artist. Prometheus foretold the liberating power of art. Prometheus the human being reveals the fiction of the gods: a god of light and terrifying time. With him is crumbling excuses that men gave to justify their miseries.
Prometheus input marked the end of innocence.
(Excerpts from the foreword to the book Prometheus. Biographies of a myth, Medrano Gregorio Luri. Editorial Trotta, Madrid 2001.)
0 comments:
Post a Comment