2021-4155-AJP – 23 MAR 2021 1 Greek, Tamil and Sanskrit: Comparison between the 2 Myths of Prometheus, Sembian and Sibi 3 4 The Prometheus myth in Greek literature deals primarily with the theft of fire. 5 The mythological story unwinds such events as the sacrificial thigh bone, God’s 6 corporal punishment, and the eating of flesh by an eagle. A link with the Ocea- 7 nus race and with the continent of Asia is also seen. Interestingly resemblances 8 with this myth can be seen in some ancient literary sources from Tamil and San- 9 skrit languages. The Tamil myth of ‘Sembian’ and the Sanskrit myth of ‘Sibi’ 10 also have resemblances with the Greek myth of Prometheus. The parallels seen 11 between these myths are examined here. 12 13 Keywords: comparative study, Indian, myth, Prometheus, Sanskrit, Sembi- 14 an, Sibi, Tamil 15 16 17 Introduction 18 19 Myths can be considered to be the ancient sources of information on an- 20 cient history and culture. Some myths even though arising in different corners 21 of the world and in different languages strangely reflect one another. The simi- 22 larities in mythologies may indicate parallels and influences of one on another. 23 If the similarities are occasional they may be seen as parallels. If the similari- 24 ties are made by personal contact, they may be seen as influences. The Greek 25 myth of Prometheus has similarities with the Tamil myth of Sembian and the 26 Sanskrit myth of Sibi. 27 28 Prometheus 29 30 There are many myths related with Prometheus, among those myths some 31 noteworthy mentions are as follows: 32 33 1. Maker of Mankind and Philanthropism 34 2. Sacrificial thigh bone 35 3. Related with fire (Theft of fire) 36 4. God’s corporal punishment 37 5. Flesh-eating by an eagle 38 6. Oceanus Race and 39 7. Prometheus’ connection with Asia. 40 41 The myths related with these topics are discussed in detail as here under 42 43 Maker of Mankind and philanthropist 44 45 Man being a social animal depends upon the help of one another. The so- 46 ciety or a person in the society needs the help of the other. In this scenario a 47 hand that is ready to help is considered to be a special character of a super hu- 1 2021-4155-AJP – 23 MAR 2021 1 man or as God himself, which is made very much obvious in the myth of Pro- 2 metheus (Jones 1918). 3 λίθοι κεῖνταί σφισιν ἐπὶ τῇ χαράδρᾳ, At the ravine there lie two stones, each of μέγεθος μὲν ἑκάτερος ὡς φόρτον which is big enough to fill a cart. They ἀποχρῶντα ἁμάξης εἶναι, χρῶμα δέ ἐστι have the color of clay, not earthy clay, but πηλοῦ σφισιν, οὐ γεώδους ἀλλ᾽ οἷος ἂν such as would be found in a ravine or χαράδρας γένοιτο ἢ χειμάρρου sandy torrent, and they smell very like the ψαμμώδους, παρέχονται δὲ καὶ ὀσμὴν skin of a man. They say that these are re- ἐγγύτατα χρωτὶ ἀνθρώπου: ταῦτα ἔτι mains of the clay out of which the whole λείπεσθαι τοῦ πηλοῦ λέγουσιν ἐξ οὗ καὶ race of mankind was fashioned by Prome- ἅπαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Προμηθέως τὸ γένος theus. πλασθῆναι τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Paus. 10.4.4,. Pausanias, Description of Greece, Greek travelogue, C 2nd A.D 4 5 Thus it is described that Prometheus created humans and after that he also 6 gave mankind the much needed fire. This reveals that he was not only the crea- 7 tor, he was also a benefactor and for this noble act he even goes to the extent 8 of deceiving God. 9 10 Sacrificial thigh bone 11 12 Sacrificing animals as an offering to the Gods has been one of the im- 13 portant rituals in ancient times. At the end of the event the flesh of the sacrifi- 14 cial animal is offered to God. It is also a mark of respect given to God. Decep- 15 tion is not permitted in this ritual. Here it is needed to be seen the situation in 16 the myth of Prometheus (Smyth 1926) (Evelyn White 1914). 17 495χολή, λοβοῦ τε ποικίλην εὐμορφίαν. [495] the gods, also the speckled sym- κνίσῃ τε κῶλα συγκαλυπτὰ καὶ μακρὰν metry of the liver-lobe; and the thigh- ὀσφῦν πυρώσας δυστέκμαρτον ἐς τέχνην bones, wrapped in fat, and the long chine ὥδωσα θνητούς, καὶ φλογωπὰ σήματα I burned and initiated mankind into an ἐξωμμάτωσα, πρόσθεν ὄντ᾽ ἐπάργεμα. occult art. Also I cleared their vision to discern signs from flames,which were obscure before this. [500] Aesch. PB Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, Greek tragedy C.5th BC 2 2021-4155-AJP – 23 MAR 2021 535καὶ γὰρ ὅτ᾽ ἐκρίνοντο θεοὶ θνητοί τ᾽ [535] For when the gods and mortal men ἄνθρωποι had a dispute at Mecone, even then Pro- Μηκώνῃ, τότ᾽ ἔπειτα μέγαν βοῦν πρό- metheus was forward to cut up a great ox φρονι θυμῷ and set portions before them, trying to δασσάμενος προέθηκε, Διὸς νόον deceive the mind of Zeus. Before the rest ἐξαπαφίσκων. he set flesh and inner parts thick with fat τοῖς μὲν γὰρ σάρκας τε καὶ ἔγκατα πίονα upon the hide, covering them with an ox δημῷ paunch; [540] but for Zeus he put the ἐν ῥινῷ κατέθηκε καλύψας γαστρὶ βοείῃ, white bones dressed up with cunning art 540τῷ δ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ὀστέα λευκὰ βοὸς δολίῃ and covered with shining fat. Then the ἐπὶ τέχνῃ father of men and of gods said to him: εὐθετίσας κατέθηκε καλύψας ἀργέτι “Son of Iapetus, most glorious of all δημῷ. lords, good sir, how unfairly you have δὴ τότε μιν προσέειπε πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε divided the portions!” θεῶν τε: Hes. Th. Ἰαπετιονίδη, πάντων ἀριδείκετ᾽ ἀνάκτων, Hesiod’s Theogony, ὦ πέπον, ὡς ἑτεροζήλως διεδάσσαο μοί- Greek epic, C.8th BC ρας. 1 2 To help mankind, Prometheus tricks the God Zeus as found mentioned in 3 the Greek tragedy C 5th B.C,. Food and meat were obviously a scarcity at the 4 time of the myth and people were themselves suffering from want and they 5 were unable to fulfill the sacrificial needs of God Zeus. Seeing this Prometheus 6 had no other way to solve this problem other than taking the dry bones of ani- 7 mals and covering them with the fat of sacrifice instead of the real meat and 8 offering them to the God Zeus. He staged this deceptive act for the benefit of 9 mankind knowing full well that he might incur the wrath of Zeus. 10 11 Related with fire (Theft of fire) 12 13 Fire is one of the main sources of energy. The use of fire is one of the re- 14 markable mile-stones in the development of mankind. It has helped man not 15 just to cook his food but also to make agricultural implements and also weap- 16 ons of war with the hard metals like bronze, copper and iron. Fire is an im- 17 portant source of energy and has an important place in modern industry and 18 war. Hence the value of fire is revealed in the myth of Prometheus (Lamb 19 1967) who was the bringer of fire and civilization to the mortals. He was the 20 giver of all arts and sciences as well as the means of sustenance. 21 ἀπορίᾳ οὖν σχόμενος ὁ Προμηθεὺς ἥντινα Then Prometheus, in his perplexity as to σωτηρίαν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ εὕροι, κλέπτει what preservation he could devise for Ἡφαίστου καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς τὴν ἔντεχνον man, stole from Hephaestus and Athena wisdom in the arts Plat. Prot. 321c 3 2021-4155-AJP – 23 MAR 2021 [321δ] σοφίαν σὺν πυρί—ἀμήχανον γὰρ [321d] together with fire—since by no ἦν ἄνευ πυρὸς αὐτὴν κτητήν τῳ ἢ means without fire could it be acquired or χρησίμην γενέσθαι—καὶ οὕτω δὴ helpfully used by any—and he handed it δωρεῖται ἀνθρώπῳ. τὴν μὲν οὖν περὶ τὸν there and then as a gift to man. Now alt- βίον σοφίαν ἄνθρωπος ταύτῃ ἔσχεν, τὴν hough man acquired in this way the wis- δὲ πολιτικὴν οὐκ εἶχεν: ἦν γὰρ παρὰ τῷ dom of daily life, civic wisdom he had Διί. τῷ δὲ Προμηθεῖ εἰς μὲν τὴν not, since this was in the possession of ἀκρόπολιν τὴν τοῦ Διὸς οἴκησιν οὐκέτι Zeus; Prometheus could not make so free ἐνεχώρει εἰσελθεῖν—πρὸς δὲ καὶ αἱ Διὸς as to enter the citadel which is the dwell- φυλακαὶ φοβεραὶ ἦσαν—εἰς δὲ τὸ τῆς ing-place of Zeus, and moreover the Ἀθηνᾶς καὶ Ἡφαίστου οἴκημα τὸ κοινόν, guards of Zeus were terrible: but he en- ἐν ᾧ tered unobserved the building shared by Athena and Hephaestus Plat. Prot. 321d Plato’s Protagoras, C.4th BC 1 2 In this episode the mortals created by Prometheus seem to be at low state 3 when compared to that of other living creatures. To uplift the mortals he stole 4 the fire from God Zeus without being concerned about the consequences of 5 doing such a defying act. His only motive was somehow to help mankind . Be- 6 cause of this selfless helping character Prometheus has a very special place in 7 this myth, however this action incurs the wrath of Zeus. 8 9 God’s Corporal Punishment 10 11 Punishment is the infliction of pain for wrong doing. The aim of punish- 12 ment may vary. Punishments differ in their degree of severity and may include 13 sanctions such as reprimands, deprivations of privileges or liberty, fines, incar- 14 cerations, ostracism, the infliction of pain, amputation and even death penalty.