Epimetheus
Epimetheus ( ancient Greek Ἐπιμηθεύς Epimētheús , German 'the one who thinks afterwards' ) is the brother of Prometheus in Greek mythology , as well as the son of Iapetus .
myth
Epimetheus received the beautiful Pandora from Zeus , a first woman made from clay by Hephaestus , who brought with her the Pandora's box named after her . She had been filled with a special gift by every Olympian , all of which, except for hope , were perishable. The plagues were intended by Zeus as a punishment of the people for the robbery of the fire by Prometheus. He warned his brother Epimetheus never to accept a gift from the gods so as not to harm people. However, Epimetheus did not heed the warning, and bewitched by her beauty, he married Pandora. She opened the box and thus released all the plagues that were in the box on humanity. Before hope, the only positive gift that was at the bottom of the box, could escape, she (possibly also Epimetheus) closed it again, whereupon all evil came over humanity. Hope finally escaped when the box was opened again.
Pandora gave birth to Epimetheus, a daughter, Pyrrha . So with Prometheus he became the ancestor of the new humanity after the great flood.
Epimetheus is also dealt with in Plato's dialogue Protagoras (320d – 322a).
Web links
- Epimetheus in the Theoi Project (English)
- Hesiod home teaching (Εργα και ημερα) from verse 60
- Education of the people
- at the Schwab
Individual evidence
- ↑ Herder Lexicon: Greek and Roman Mythology. Herder, Freiburg 1981, Lemma Pandora.