Prometheus’ name is a compound proper noun, the first half of which is easily derived from pro – meaning ‘before’. The second part, however, like the god himself, is tricky. One possibility is to derive it from metis, cognate with the verb medomai, meaning ‘clever intelligence’ to explain Prometheus’ name as ‘the one who thinks in advance’. This is surely the etymology that Hesiod had in mind when he invented Epimetheus (late-thinker) as the name for Prometheus’ dim-witted brother in his cosmological poem, Theogony. The fifth-century Athenian playwright, Aeschylus, introduces similar etymological word play with Prometheus’ name into his drama, Prometheus Bound.
While the Greeks clearly understood Prometheus’name as ‘forethinker’, recent work in linguistics links the meth component to a Sanskrit root math – meaning to steal – suggesting that the actual etymology refers to theft, no doubt of fire, and links the Greek Prometheus myth with other similar myths from the Caucasus.
The fifth-century Athenian playwright, Aeschylus, introduces similar etymological word play with Prometheus’ name into his drama, Prometheus Bound.
While the Greeks clearly understood Prometheus’name as ‘forethinker’, recent work in linguistics links the meth component to a Sanskrit root math – meaning to steal – suggesting that the actual etymology refers to theft, no doubt of fire, and links the Greek Prometheus myth with other similar myths from the Caucasus.