Why the Torch - Part III
Prometheus stole fire, the basis of all human achievement and industry, from the gods, and presented it to humanity, borne by a Torch of fennel. Prometheus had no undue respect for the gods, and openly defied their false logic. When a sacrificial gift was demanded of man against his wishes, Prometheus tricked Zeus, for which mankind was punished by the deprivation of fire. By recovering that which was unjustly lost, the Torch is the weapon by which Prometheus and humanity fight back against the unreasoned tyranny of above.
To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
To love, and bear; to hope ’til Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory.
- Percy Shelley: Prometheus Unbound (1820)
Categories: mythology, literature, about the blog
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The Torch » This Day in Liberty: 18 November said,
November 18, 2007 @ 11:28 pm
[…] the tale of Prometheus and that of John Galt in Atlas Shrugged, Tell defied the illogic of his overlords, and cast off his […]