Theft of fire

Prometheus Brings Fire to Mankind (1817) by Heinrich Füger

The theft of fire for the benefit of humanity is a theme that recurs in many world mythologies. The narrative of the theft of fire is classified in the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature as motif A1415.^[1]

Examples[]

Africa[]

The San peoples, the indigenous Southern African hunter-gatherers, tell how ǀKaggen, in the form of a mantis, brought the first fire to the people by stealing it from the ostrich, who kept the fire beneath its wings.^[2]^[3]

The Americas[]

Among various Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest and First Nations, fire was stolen and given to humans by Coyote, Beaver or Dog.^[4]
In Algonquin myth, Rabbit stole fire from an old man and his two daughters.^[5]
In Cherokee myth, after Possum and Buzzard had failed to steal fire, Grandmother Spider used her web to sneak into the land of light. She stole fire, hiding it in a clay pot or a silk net.^[6]
According to a Mazatec legend, the opossum spread fire to humanity. Fire fell from a star and an old woman kept it for herself. The opossum took fire from the old woman and carried the flame on its tail, resulting in its hairlessness.^[7]
According to the Muscogees/Creeks, Rabbit stole fire from the Weasels.^[8]
In Ojibwa myth, Nanabozho the hare stole fire and gave it to humans.
According to some Yukon First Nations people, Crow stole fire from a volcano in the middle of the water.^[9]

Eurasia[]

According to the vedic Rigveda (3:9.5), the hero Mātariśvan recovered fire, which had been hidden from humanity.
In Greek mythology, according to Hesiod (Theogony, 565-566 and Works & Days, 50) and Pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheca, 1.7.1), Titan Prometheus steals the heavenly fire for humanity, enabling the progress of civilization.
In the Book of Enoch, the fallen angels and Azazel teach early humanity to use tools and divination, and are punished in an abyss of fire.
In one of the versions of Georgian myth, Amirani stole fire from metalsmiths, who refused to share it – and knowledge of creating it – with other humans.
The Vainakh hero Pkharmat brought fire to mankind and was chained to Mount Kazbek as punishment.

Oceania[]

In Polynesian myth, Māui stole fire from the Mudhens.^[10]
In the mythology of the Wurundjeri people of Australia, it was the Crow who stole the secret of fire from the Karatgurk women.^[11]

Nuclear Weapons[]

Since shortly after the detonation of the first atomic bombs, the destructive power of atomic weapons has been compared to the story of Prometheus and the theft of fire.^[12]^[13]

The Scientific Monthly wrote in their September 1945 issue:

"Modern Prometheans have raided Mount Olympus again and have brought back for man the very thunderbolts of Zeus."^[14]^[15]

The biography of Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin is entitled American Prometheus in reference to the myth. Further comparisons to Prometheus have been made in publications by the United Nations,^[16] MITs Technology Review^[17] and Harvards Nuclear Study Group.^[18]

The "theft of fire" metaphor has also been used to argue against the proliferation of nuclear weapons by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute^[19]^[20] and repeatedly by statesman Henry Kissinger as early as 1957,^[21] at the Munich Security Conference^[22] and as part of the Nuclear Threat Initiative with former Senator Sam Nunn, former Secretary of Defense William Perry and former Secretary of State George Shultz.^[23]^[24]^[25] Supporters of nuclear power have interpreted the anecdote more favorably.^[26]

References[]

^ Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. p. 240. ISBN 0-520-03537-2.
^ Miller, Penny (1979). Myths and Legends of Southern Africa. T. V. Bulpin. ISBN 978-0-949956-16-3.
^ How the ostrich lost his fire and other stories. Tales By Roohi. ISBN 978-1-4763-8843-4. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
^ Judson, Katharine B. Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest. Chicago, 1912.
^ Alexander, Hartley Burr. The Mythology of All Races. Vol 10: North American. Boston, 1916.
^ Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York, 1984.
^ "La leyenda del tlacuache que trajo el fuego a la humanidad". México Desconocido (in Spanish). 14 December 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
^ Swanton, John. "Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians." Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 88: 1929.
^ Janke, Daniel (2008). "How People Got Fire (animated short)" (DVD). National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
^ Westervelt, W.D. Legends of Maui – a Demigod of Polynesia, and of His Mother Hina. Honolulu, 1910. Ch. 5.
^ Mudrooroo (1994). Aboriginal mythology: An A-Z spanning the history of the Australian Aboriginal people from the earliest legends to the present day. London: Thorsons. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-1-85538-306-7.
^ Boyer, Paul (2005-10-21). By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture At the Dawn of the Atomic Age. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8078-7570-4.
^ Fousek, John (2003-06-20). To Lead the Free World: American Nationalism and the Cultural Roots of the Cold War. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-6067-0.
^ The Scientific Monthly 1945-09: Vol 61 Iss 3. Internet Archive. American Association for the Advancement of Science. September 1945.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ "Vol. 61, No. 3, Sep., 1945 of The Scientific Monthly on JSTOR". www.jstor.org. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ Neuneck, Götz (2017). "60 Jahre nuklearer Prometheus oder Sisyphos?". Vereinte Nationen: German Review on the United Nations. 65 (4): 170–176. ISSN 0042-384X. JSTOR 48551110.
^ How Prometheus came to be bound: nuclear regulation in America. Technology Review. June 1980. p. 29.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
^ Staff, Harvard Nuclear Study Group; Carnesale, Albert; Group, Harvard Nuclear Study; Doty, Paul; Hoffmann, Stanley; Huntington, Samuel P.; Jr, Joseph S. Nye; Hoffmann, Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France Stanley; Sagan, Scott D. (1983). Living with Nuclear Weapons. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-53665-4.
^ "Prometheus-bound: an end to nuclear explosive tests | SIPRI". www.sipri.org. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ "Extinguishing Prometheus' Nuclear Flame: International Day Against Nuclear Tests". South Asia Journal. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ Kissinger, Henry A. (2019-03-13). Nuclear Weapons And Foreign Policy. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-429-71636-2.
^ Kissinger, Henry A. (2009-02-06). "Opinion | Containing the fire of the gods". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ "Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Risks". Wall Street Journal. 2013-03-06. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ "Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Risks: The Pace of Nonproliferation Work Today Doesn't Match the Urgency of the Threat | Analysis | NTI". www.nti.org. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ Picard, Joe (2013-12-13). "Limiting nuclear weapons: Diplomacy and dialogue". TheHill. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^ Watson, David de Caires (2021-08-13). "What Greek Myth Teaches Us About The Morality Of Nuclear Technology". The Kernel. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

External links[]

Reclus, Élisée (1911). "Fire" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 399–401.
O fogo e as chamas dos mitos (in Portuguese) by Betty Mindlin Essay about the origin of fire, stealing of fire, keeping of fire in different South-American indigenous cultures

[1] Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. p. 240. ISBN 0-520-03537-2.

[2] Miller, Penny (1979). Myths and Legends of Southern Africa. T. V. Bulpin. ISBN 978-0-949956-16-3.

[3] How the ostrich lost his fire and other stories. Tales By Roohi. ISBN 978-1-4763-8843-4. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

[4] Judson, Katharine B. Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest. Chicago, 1912.

[5] Alexander, Hartley Burr. The Mythology of All Races. Vol 10: North American. Boston, 1916.

[6] Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York, 1984.

[7] "La leyenda del tlacuache que trajo el fuego a la humanidad". México Desconocido (in Spanish). 14 December 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.

[8] Swanton, John. "Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians." Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 88: 1929.

[9] Janke, Daniel (2008). "How People Got Fire (animated short)" (DVD). National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2010-02-10.

[10] Westervelt, W.D. Legends of Maui – a Demigod of Polynesia, and of His Mother Hina. Honolulu, 1910. Ch. 5.

[11] Mudrooroo (1994). Aboriginal mythology: An A-Z spanning the history of the Australian Aboriginal people from the earliest legends to the present day. London: Thorsons. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-1-85538-306-7.

[12] Boyer, Paul (2005-10-21). By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture At the Dawn of the Atomic Age. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8078-7570-4.

[13] Fousek, John (2003-06-20). To Lead the Free World: American Nationalism and the Cultural Roots of the Cold War. Univ of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-6067-0.

[14] The Scientific Monthly 1945-09: Vol 61 Iss 3. Internet Archive. American Association for the Advancement of Science. September 1945.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

[15] "Vol. 61, No. 3, Sep., 1945 of The Scientific Monthly on JSTOR". www.jstor.org. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

[16] Neuneck, Götz (2017). "60 Jahre nuklearer Prometheus oder Sisyphos?". Vereinte Nationen: German Review on the United Nations. 65 (4): 170–176. ISSN 0042-384X. JSTOR 48551110.

[17] How Prometheus came to be bound: nuclear regulation in America. Technology Review. June 1980. p. 29.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

[18] Staff, Harvard Nuclear Study Group; Carnesale, Albert; Group, Harvard Nuclear Study; Doty, Paul; Hoffmann, Stanley; Huntington, Samuel P.; Jr, Joseph S. Nye; Hoffmann, Douglas Dillon Professor of the Civilization of France Stanley; Sagan, Scott D. (1983). Living with Nuclear Weapons. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-53665-4.

[19] "Prometheus-bound: an end to nuclear explosive tests | SIPRI". www.sipri.org. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

[20] "Extinguishing Prometheus' Nuclear Flame: International Day Against Nuclear Tests". South Asia Journal. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

[21] Kissinger, Henry A. (2019-03-13). Nuclear Weapons And Foreign Policy. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-429-71636-2.

[22] Kissinger, Henry A. (2009-02-06). "Opinion | Containing the fire of the gods". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

[23] "Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Risks". Wall Street Journal. 2013-03-06. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

[24] "Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Risks: The Pace of Nonproliferation Work Today Doesn't Match the Urgency of the Threat | Analysis | NTI". www.nti.org. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

[25] Picard, Joe (2013-12-13). "Limiting nuclear weapons: Diplomacy and dialogue". TheHill. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

[26] Watson, David de Caires (2021-08-13). "What Greek Myth Teaches Us About The Morality Of Nuclear Technology". The Kernel. Retrieved 2021-10-15.

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