The Myth of Prometheus

Introduction

Mary Shelley chose to subtitle her novel Frankenstein with the words or, The Modern Prometheus. Prometheus, a Titan, is found in both Greek and Roman mythologies. His name means "Forethought." Although there are several versions of the myths, the most famous are that Prometheus creates man and later steals fire from Mount Olympus in order to save mankind.

Students are given excerpts from the legends of Prometheus which they are asked to read then ask questions about.

This assignment should be given after students have been given the reading of the Creation's birth, in Chapter IV and the beginning of Chapter V.

Objectives

• Students will read excerpts from Ovid's Metamorphoses and Edith Hamilton's Mythology.
• Students will interpret the connection Mary Shelley was making to the legend of Prometheus when she subtitled her novel "or the Modern Prometheus."
• Students will speculate about the possible fates of Victor Frankenstein, given their knowledge of the fate of Prometheus.
• Students will discuss the differences between what Victor Frankenstein did and what modern scientists do regarding scientific experimentation.

Materials

• a copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses or Edith Hamilton's Mythology or any good mythology book is helpful in case the teacher or the students want to look at the Prometheus legend further.

Procedure

• Teachers can choose to go through this assignment with the students as a whole class or have them work through it individually.
• Questions about the excerpts should be answered on a separate piece of paper so that students will have enough room for their ideas.
• If students go through the assignment individually, the teacher should lead a discussion after the assignment to check students' understanding and to help students clarify their ideas. It is important that the students realize the differences between Victor Frankenstein and modern scientists who use scientific methodology. Perhaps a way to help them understand the differences is for them to examine their own lab work in their science classes and the processes they go through of generating hypotheses, determining the procedure for experimentation, data collection, and analysis of the results before arriving at their conclusions.