When considering the ancient myths surrounding mankind’s creation, Prometheus is often given credit for this monumental task. Another theory is that Prometheus was the creator of man. Prometheus was a Titan and one of Gaia’s many grandchildren. Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were given the task of not only creating man, but also of giving the other beasts of Earth protection. Epimetheus took it upon himself to present the beasts with gifts of preservation and Prometheus was to supervise his work. Therefore, Epimetheus is credited with giving the turtles their shells, the leopards their spots, and the bears their claws.
When it came time to create man, Prometheus performed this task himself, using earth and clay as his materials. He kneaded this with water and fashioned the form of man, which was molded in the likeness of the gods. But the first man was not what we know as the man of today. The mortal man went through several stages before reaching the final desired effect. Epimetheus did such a good job of distributing gifts that by the time he was finished with his task, all the gifts of protection were accounted for—except for man’s gift. Prometheus decided that man also needed a gift of protection, one that went beyond all the others—and that gift was fire.
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