Greek mythology says that Zeus or Jupiter defeated the old gods—the Titans—and became the master of the worlds. One of the Titans—Prometheus—had helped him in this. Zeus wanted to destroy mankind, as they were spiritually and intellectually backward and lived miserable lives. However, Prometheus convinced him to spare them. Prometheus saw that humans did not know how to fell trees and use their wood to build houses. Like other animals, they suffered wind, rain, heat and cold and dwelt in dens and caves.
Taking pity on mankind, Prometheus decided to give them knowledge like a Guru. He taught them writing and how to count things using numbers. He explained why stars rose and set, and how they could observe their orbits. He domesticated the ox and taught humans how to harness it to pull carts and plough the land. He also domesticated the horse and taught humans how to ride it and use it to pull wagons. He showed them how to make boats and make journeys by harnessing the power of wind through sails. He showed them that they could dig into the depths of the earth and take out iron, silver and gold. He told them everything about plants and how to use them to relieve pain and cure diseases. He told them of things that happened or were said in the council of the gods.
Prometheus was a strong champion of humankind. He even went to the extent of tricking the gods to help humanity. This came to be known as the ‘trick at Mecone’. The immortal gods and the mortal humans had gathered at Mecone to settle the matter of how animal sacrifices were to be divided between the two. Prometheus killed a large ox and divided it into two parts. In one pile, he put all the desirable meat, but covered it with the undesirable stomach of the ox. In the other pile, he put all the useless bones, but covered them with shining fat. He, then, asked Zeus to choose one pile. Zeus got tricked and chose the pile of bones.
Henceforth, whenever humans killed an animal, they would keep the meat for themselves and burn the bones as offerings to the gods.
Zeus was enraged and withheld fire from the humans as revenge. Prometheus sneaked into Mount Olympus and lit a torch. To hide the flame from Zeus, he hid it inside the stem of a fennel or saunf plant.
But Prometheus had to pay a huge price for being vishwaguru. Zeus condemned him to eternal torture. He was bound to a rock where an eagle ate his liver every day, which would then grow back overnight. This continued for years, until Prometheus was rescued by Hercules.
