Ancient phylosophy

Comenius 2010-2012

Liceo Scientifico Le filandiere San Vito al Tagliamento

The original myth of Prometheus

Prometheus was a Titan from Greek myth.

The name Prometheus means “foresight” and his twin brother’s name Epimetheus means “hindsight”.

Prometheus and Epimetheus journed from Mt. Olympus to Earth and they made clay fugures. Goddess Athena took the figures and breathed lifr into them.

The clay figures that Prometheus had created became Man.

The figures that his brother Epimetheus created became the beast, wich turned and attacked him. Hesiod

Prometheu

s was the

creator of

mankind

and of technics.

He stolen

the fire

from Gods

home and

give it to

man.Zeus then

punish

him.(See the

sculture)

Plato’s Protagora On of the most important version of the myth of

Prometheus was written by Plato, an ancient philosopher, in the V th century before Christ

The myth is conteint in a phylosophycal dialogue titled Protagora

This myth contain a lot of important phylosophycal themes:

Plasmation of living beings or animals

Plasmation of man

Men’s culture start from different technologies and politic

The Gods were about to create animals. They asked both brothers to equipe creatures with proper qualities, so that each can find his food, protect himself from heat,cold, and predators.

. Ephimeteus said to Prometheus “Let me distibute, and you inspect”.

This was agreed, and Epimetheus made the distibution. (….)

Man alone was naked and scholess, and had neither bed nor arms of defence (…)

Prometheus stole the mechanical arts of Hephestus and Athena, and fire with them.

Thus man had the wisdom necessary to the support of life, but political wisdom he had not.

Let us think Animal were very

different

Man was created after animal

Man was created naked, without natural defences

Technical skills and political art was Prometheus’s gifts

…stolen to protect man

So culture is the protection for Men

biodiversity?

cultural diversity?

Mith and science Fiction

Fixism

Radical difference between man and animals

Importance of culture

Man is a natural /cultural being

Observations, theory

Evolutionism

Man is an animal, he evolved from apes

Culture is important

Man is a natural/cultural being

Relativism? Protagora was also an ancient philosopher

He theorized relativism, also cultural relativism

Cultural relativism is different fron cultural difference

While the second concept underline the richness of diversity, the first concern only the diversity

Plato didn’y agree with Protagora

Nature and culture The mith of Prometheus concern the

differences in nature and the difference between nature and culture

Human culture depends on the nature of humankind

So humankind seem very different from other natural being because he is defined by his culture

And nowadays? Nawadays we have distinct philosophical ideas

Those ideas depend also on progress in sciences, expecially in biological sciences

Now we can think about humankind as a natural kind of being

Culture is not considered in opposition with nature