Prometheus

: Nature Myths And Stories For Little Children

Greece is far away to the east over a great ocean. It is a very small

country with high mountains in every part of it.



The people who lived there long ago could not easily go from one place

to another.



Some of the mountains reached above the clouds and made great walls

around their homes. Men sometimes lived all their lives near the sea and

never saw it.



These peop
e who were shut up in the little valley of Greece did many

wonderful things.



As they could not go far from their homes they had time to see how

beautiful the things around them were.



Perhaps they looked at the sky so much that they wished to have

everything on earth just as beautiful.



They gave their children work to do which made them strong and graceful.



Some of the Greeks carved statues from the marble in the mountains. Some

built great temples of it.



Some painted pictures, while others made gardens more beautiful than

pictures.



Others wrote books. Many of the stories you like were written by the

poets who lived in Greece long ago.



In all these ways the Greeks showed their love for their country and

made it a better place in which to live.



Though they were so wise they had many thoughts which seem strange to

us.



They believed that long before they were born a race of giants had lived

among the mountains.



At one time the giants grew angry with Zeus, their king, and wished to

take his throne away from him.



There was a wise giant, named Prometheus, who begged them not to attempt

to do this.



He tried to show them how foolish they were.



They would not listen to him. Zeus lived upon Mount Olympus, the highest

mountain in Greece.



The giants brought great rocks to this mountain and piled them up,

higher and higher, until they reached the sky.



Zeus waited until the giants had finished their work and were ready for

battle.



Then he put out his hand and touched the great mound. Instantly it fell

over into the sea.



Prometheus and his brother were now the only people on earth.



They were so lonely that Zeus told them to model some people from clay.



Prometheus made animals and men and Epimetheus, his brother, gave them

gifts of courage, swiftness and strength.



To some he gave feathers and wings, to others fur and claws, and to

others a hard shelly covering.



When he came to man he had no covering left.



Zeus said, "I will clothe man," and that is the reason his covering is

so delicate and beautiful.



Prometheus' people could not breathe.



Zeus sent him to AEolus, the god of the winds, for help.



AEolus sent his strong son, North Wind, back with Prometheus.



When North Wind saw the people of clay he whistled with surprise.



He blew his breath upon them.



They turned as white as snow and began to breathe.



They were a cold people, however, and Prometheus did not love them.



He went to AEolus again and this time South Wind and the zephyrs came

with him.



South Wind brought the people green grass and flowers and birds.



The zephyrs showed them how to laugh and cry and sing and dance.



But the people were stupid.



They lived like ants in dark caves.



Prometheus saw that there was only one thing which would help them.



That was fire.



Fire was the most precious thing Zeus had, and he kept it ever burning

around his throne.



When Prometheus asked for fire Zeus was angry.



"I have already given too much to your people," he said. "Let them now

help themselves."



Prometheus was sad, indeed.



He loved his people more than he did himself.



At last he said: "They shall have the fire. I will pay for it with my

life."



He went straight to Zeus' throne and filled a ferule with it, and

carried it to his people.



Then the people began to be wise.



He taught them to cook, and to build houses, and to sail their ships

upon the ocean.



He showed them how to get rich ores from the mountains and prepare them

for use.



They learned how to plow and to reap and to store up their food for the

winter.



Zeus was angry with Prometheus.



He chained him to a rock on the top of a high mountain.



He sent a great bird each day to torment him.



Zeus said that he must stay there until he repented and returned the

fire to heaven.



There Prometheus stayed and suffered for many burning summers and long,

cold winters.



Sometimes he grew faint-hearted and wished to be free.



Then he looked down and saw how the fire was helping the people and how

happy they were, and he grew strong again.



After many, many years, a Greek hero who was sailing over the mountain

in a golden cup, saw Prometheus.



It was Hercules. He shot the bird with a golden arrow, unbound the

chains and set the wise Prometheus free.



More

;