Prometheus and Epimetheus
My friends, as you may know, the Greeks believed that the brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus were charged with the task of populating the Earth with all manner of creatures. Now, the brothers were very different, and one could scarcely credit they shared the same family. Prometheus was renown for his forethought, and before setting to work gave careful consideration to what each creature needed so that it could thrive.
In contrast, his brother Epimetheus set to work immediately, fashioning creatures from the ylem following the fancy of the moment. As he completed each creature, he rushed to his brother to present it. "Behold, a snake! Behold, a worm! Behold, a...lamprey!"
These interruptions kept Prometheus from his planning, so he turned to his brother and said "Epimetheus...your enthusiasm is your virtue. Let us divide this task, then. You shall create from the ylem, providing each creature with such as would guard them from the elements and the other beasts, and I shall inspect them before setting them out into the world."
And so Epimetheus set to work with even greater zeal than before, presenting his creations to Prometheus who praised the horns of the bull, and the feathers of the ostrich, and the sharp teeth and talons of the eagle. But soon, Epimetheus exhausted the ylem, and so sent forward the last few creatures, naked and defenseless.
"What about these?"
"I call them men. What do you think?"
"Epimetheus, these creatures have no way to defend themselves. They have neither thick hides nor claws. The first winter will freeze them, if they're not eaten first."
"Oh, that's no problem. After all, uncle Cronus ate our cousins, and they were fine..."
"Epimetheus...we're immortal. These creatures are mortal."
"Oh, didn't think about that. Well, here...this elephant doesn't need two tusks. I'll take one and put it here."
"Epimetheus...it'll fall over if you give it a tusk like that."
"Oh, yeah. What if I put it here?"
"That...looks ridiculous."
"Oh. Well---"
"Never mind. I'll take care of this..."
To ensure their survival, Prometheus set about to give men three things which the gods had kept for themselves. First, he went to the groves of Athena, and obtained the olive and the knowledge of how to understand all things, that which the Greeks call episte, and he gave these to men. Next, he went to the workshop of Hephaestus, and obtained fire and the knowledge of how to build all things, that which the Greeks call techne, and he gave these to men. And since he knew that techne and episte could be used carelessly or even maliciously, he sought to temper these with sophos, wisdom. This could only be obtained from Olympus itself. But when he tried to obtain sophos for men, he was seized by the sentinels of Zeus before he could complete his task. Thus men have techne and episte, yet daily show their lack of sophos.
Notes
Told this for the first time at the Bardic Workshop on September 10, 2010, continuing what has been called my "Loony Tunes Meets Greek Mythology" theme.
As with many of my narratives, this began with a single scene. In this particular case, it was the scene where Epimetheus rushed into show Prometheus his creations (inspired by Gary Larson's "God makes snakes" cartoon). After a little bit of research, I blocked out the rest of the story, but I was having trouble with the ending, which described Prometheus's punishment (and hinted at his eventual rescue). As I told the story, I came to the last paragraph (above) and realized "Hey, this is the perfect place to end it..." I presented the story as I had originally written it, but several people pointed out that, in fact, the proper place to end it was with the reference to men's lack of sophos. Moral: If you're having trouble with an ending, tell the story...the ending will make itself clear.
One point: it may seem like I've embellished the Prometheus myth. I have, but not by that much. Most of this is in Plato's Protagoras. In particular, Plato has Prometheus stealing fire and knowledge of the arts from Hephaestus and Athena, and only being caught when he tried to steal (political) wisdom from Zeus. The main changes I made were adding a few more details (the references to techne and episte, and the olives from Athena's groves), and having Prometheus suggest the division of labor (Plato put that suggestion in Epimetheus's mouth).