Frankenstein Research

Myths of Prometheus
Prometheus was the wisest Titan. His name means "forethought" and he was able to foretell
the future. When Zeus revolted against Cronus Prometheus deserted the other Titans and
fought on Zeus side.
By some accounts he and his brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create man. In
all accounts, Prometheus is known as the protector and benefactor of man. He gave
mankind a number of gifts including fire. He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the
best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts.
For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at
his liver. He was to be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to Zeus which
of Zeus children would try to replace him. He was eventually rescued by Hercules without
giving in to Zeus.
Link to Frankenstein:
Mary Shelley subtitled her novel "The Modern Prometheus." According to the Greeks,
Prometheus stole fire from the gods. As punishment, he was chained to a rock, where an
eagle each day plucked at his liver. Arrogant Prometheus sought fire for human betterment,
to make tools and warm hearts. Similarly, Mary Shelley's arrogant scientist, Victor
Frankenstein, claimed "benevolent intentions, and thirsted for the moment when I should
put them in practice." Frankenstein works not only because of its infamous horrors but for
the richness of the ideas it asks us to confront; human accountability, social alienation, and
the nature of life itself.
Scientific progress (18
th
-19
th
centuries)
In Mary Shelley's day, many people regarded the new science of electricity with both
wonder and astonishment. In Frankenstein, Shelley used both the new sciences of chemistry
and electricity and the older Renaissance tradition of the alchemists' search for the elixir of
life to conjure up the Promethean possibility of reviving the bodies of the dead.