| Front | Promethean \pruh-MEE-thee-un\ |
|---|---|
| Back | adjective Boldly creative; defiant; audacious. noun A person who is boldly creative or defiantly original. [After Prometheus, a Titan in Greek mythology. He made man from clay, stole fire from Zeus by trickery, and gave it to humans. For his crime he was chained to a rock and an eagle devoured his liver to have it grow again to be eaten again the next day. The name means forethinker, from Greek pro- (before) + manthanein (to learn). Earliest documented use: 1594.] "A Promethean impulse lives on in the financial markets, where quantitative investors hubristically strive to invent and speculate beyond their capacity to understand." - Ben Wright; Fear, Frankenstein and the Rise of the Machines; Financial News (London, UK); Oct 10, 2011. [As some versions of the story go in Greek mythology, Prometheus (one of the Titan giants) modeled humans from clay and then taught them agriculture and all the arts of civilization. He also stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. So inventive was he that anything that bears the stamp of creativity and originality can still be called "Promethean." Zeus, however, had wanted the human race to perish, so Prometheus' actions were also disobedient. Hence "Promethean" can also mean defiant of authority or limits. As punishment for his disobedience, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where an eagle daily tore at his liver. Thus, any suffering on a grand scale can also be called Promethean -- though this sense is not as common as the others.] |
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