Hesiod’s Works and Days emphasizes the necessity and difficulty of work for mankind. Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound, on the other hand, celebrates those technological accomplishments that Prometheus’ gift has enabled mankind to make – building houses, sailing the seas, etc. – and calls them progress. Plato’s Protagoras highlights the civic skills that allow mankind to live together in political communities, to move beyond mere survival towards a truly more civilized human experience.
Which is a lot like Athena/ Hermes / Odysseus, facing the tail end of the Golden/ Hero Age, not with a whimper, but with progress, transgression, and institutions.
Which is a lot like Athena/ Hermes / Odysseus, facing the tail end of the Golden/ Hero Age, not with a whimper, but with progress, transgression, and institutions.