The New Student's Reference Work/Prometheus

Prometheus (prō-mē′ thūs), a hero of Grecian mythology, who, on account of various services rendered to men, was chained by Zeus to a rock, where a vulture was sent to devour his liver by day, Zeus causing it to grow again by night.  As Prometheus continued to endure this torture without yielding, the wrath of Jupiter was at length appeased, and the victim was released.  Some legends represent the offense of Prometheus as stealing fire from heaven for the benefit of men; and in the tragedy of Æschylus he is an immortal god, a friend of the human race, who does not shrink from opposing the evil designs of Zeus against mankind nor even from sacrificing himself for their salvation.  The possession of fire was very important to the early races of men, and the legend of its having been originally stolen from heaven is very widely spread over the world.