the ailanthus silkworm (larva of Philosamia Cynthia), which has some slight market value, it has never been commercially used.
PROME’THEUS (Lat., from Gk. (
Greek characters),
from (Greek characters). promēthēs, foresighted, from (Greek characters)
before ＋ (Greek characters), mētis, wisdom; connected with
(Greek characters), mathein, to learn: less probably connected
with Skt. pramantha, fire-drill, from pra. before
＋ mantha, churning, from math. to whirl,
churn, produce fire by friction). The hero of one
of the most interesting of the Greek myths. The
story goes back to a very early period, and in its
origin may be compared' with the many similar
legends as to the origin of fire, usually by a
theft from the sun or the gods, or the beneficent
gift of some kindly animal or great hero. In
this character as the fire-bringing god ((Greek characters). ho pyrphoros theos) Prometheus had
an altar in the Academy at Athens, where he was
joined with Hephæstus and Athena, as those who
had given to men the arts and crafts that brought
civilization. He was honored with a special festival,
of which the chief feature was a torch-race
from his altar in the Academy to the city. In
Hesiod Prometheus is a Titan, son of Iapetus
and Clymene, brother of Atlas. Menœtius, and
Epimetheus. Angry at a trick played on him by
Prometheus, Zeus deprived men of tire, but Prometheus
stole it from the hearth of Zeus, hid it
in the pith of a fennel-stalk, and conveyed it to
earth. In punishment Zeus sent Pandora (q.v. )
to Epimetheus and bestowed thus upon men the
race of women “who dwell as a great plague
among mortal men.” Prometheus himself was
fettered to a column, and visited daily by an
eagle who devoured his liver, which always grew
again during the night, so that his torment was
unceasing till Hercules came, and by the goodwill
of Zeus, who thus gave greater glory to his
son, slew the eagle and freed Prometheus. In
this version the Titan really works men harm in
his efforts to overcome by trickery the high designs
of Zeus. It should also be noted that the
myth of Pandora seems to be originally a separate
legend of the origin of suffering and woe,
only later connected with the theft of fire. This
primitive myth was reworked by the Athenian
tragedian Æschylus in his Promethean trilogy,
of which the Prometheus Bound has survived,
and was brought more into harmony with the
Athenian cult and the conceptions of a later
time. Here Prometheus is the son of Themis
(whom the poet identifies with Gæa, the earth),
and through her possesses the gift of foreknowledge
and prophecy. He thus foresees the ultimate
triumph of intelligence over brute force in the
struggle between Zeus and the Titans, and consequently
joins the winning side. When, however,
Zeus, as the establisher of a rule of law and
order, plans to replace the wretched race of men
by a nobler order of beings, Prometheus in pity
defeats this design by stealing fire and instructing
men in all the useful arts, so that there now
exists no ground for Zeus to remove them from
the earth. For this rebellion Hephæstus is required
to nail Prometheus to a lonely cliff in
Scythia near the ocean. Here the extant play
shows him still defiant, execrating the ingratitude
and cruelty of Zeus, who can thus punish
an ally whose only fault is a desire to benefit
mankind, and at the same time exulting in the
secret knowledge that the violence of Zeus to his
father, Cronos, unless atoned for, must be punished.
His threats and defiance rise to such a
pitch that Zeus casts him into Tartarus.
The play seems to represent Prometheus as a martyr and Zeus as a cruel tyrant, but closer examination shows that Zeus is bound to punish the rebel who has tried to overthrow the new reign of law. The later dramas of the trilogy seem to have made this conception clear. Zeus was reconciled to Cronos and the Titans, and Prometheus was brought to yield to the now secure Zeus. Hercules by the will of the god slew the eagle and freed the prisoner, in whose stead the centaur Chiron, suffering from an incurable wound, surrendered his immortality and descended to the regions of the dead. The closing drama seems to have related the establishment of the worship of Prometheus at Athens. In the later versions, especially on the sarcophagi, besides minor variations, we find Prometheus represented as the actual creator of men, whom he fashions out of clay, and at whose death he is sunk in sorrow and meditation. The whole myth in its origin and signification, and especially in its treatment by Æschylus, has been the subject of lengthy discussion and has produced an extensive literature, much of which is to be found in editions of the play. Consult: Welcker. Die Aeschylaische Trilogie Prometheus, and Nachtrag (Darmstadt, 1824, 1826) ; Hermann, “De Æschyli Prometheo Soluto,” in his Opuscula, vol. iv. (Leipzig, 1831); these two works developed a great controversy and have historical interest. Consult also: Wecklein's Prometheus Bound of Æschylus, trans, by F. D. Allen (Boston, 1891) ; Preller-Robert, Griechische Mythologie I. (Leipzig, 1887) . The play has been transfated by Mrs. Browning. On works of art see: 0. .Jahn. “Promethee,” in Annali dell’ Istituto 19 (Rome, 1847), and “Ueber ein Sarcophagrelief im Museo Borbonico,” in Berichte der sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften (Leipzig, 1849) : Milchhöfer, Die Befreiung des Prometheus, Berliner Winckelmannsprogramm, 42 (Berlin, 1882) ; Baumeister, Denkmäler des klassischen Altertums, s.v. Prometheus (Munich, 1889).
PROMETHEUS UNBOUND. A lyrical drama by Percy Bysshe .Shelley (1820). Though founded on Æschylus’s tragedy, it is not Greek in form or spirit. Prometheus, the type of humanity, bears his tortures even with resignation, till the secret is revealed, and Jupiter falls. The Spirit of the Hours announces the release of the hero, and all nature joins in the chorus of redemption. In this poem Shelley (stirred by the spirit of the French Revolution) exults in the deliverance of humanity.
PROMISE. See Contract.
PROMISSORY NOTE (from Lat. promissor,
promiser, from promittere, to promise, send forward,
from pro, before, for ＋ mittere, to send. Skt.
mïv, to push). A written instrument containing
an express and unconditional promise by the maker
to pay a certain sum in money, on demand, or at a
fixed or determinable future time. If it is payable
to order or to bearer, it is a negotiable instrument
(q.v.) . The following is an ordinary form of
a negotiable promissory note, payable at a bank :
“$1000.00.New York, April 1, 1903.
Three months after date I promise to pay to the order of Richard Roe One Thousand Dollars, at the Corn Exchange Bank.
Value received, with interest.John Doe.”
