Was Prometheus Right or Wrong?

With week #3 of teaching well underway, I am gradually learning what this teaching this is all about. I’m definitely making many mistakes along the way, but learning from them has helped me in navigating this new “profession.” It still amazes me that Xavier High School is one of the most prestigious high schools in Micronesia, yet it simply could not function if not for the volunteer teachers. Whether from JVI, the Jesuit community, an Australian exchange program or the Japanese Peace Corps, very few of us are actually qualified to teach - yet we are all willing to take on this responsibility of being entrusted with the education of Micronesia’s best and brightest future leaders.
The adage “You don’t know how tall you truly are until you are called to rise” has taken on new meaning for me. I was quite uncertain about how I would fare as a literature teacher, though teaching has since evolved from a job into this idea of a challenge or puzzle that I, if I am willing, get to figure out a little bit more of every day.
My latest task started out as a simple lesson plan – something to push the sophomores to think outside the box. “Does innocence/ignorance equal happiness….?” A simple question. The lesson revolves around a discussion of Pandora’s Box – remember the story? So picture for me what YOU think the world was like before Prometheus gave humans fire…(I know it is a rudimentary lesson for a sophomore class, but hear me out) The story the students read talked about how “races of man had been living on earth free from all evils, and free from laborious work and free from all wearing sickness.” The poem does not provide many details, so close your eyes, and fill in the gaps. What do you envision this “Golden Age” to be like? What do people do? How do they interact? You paint the picture. Remember this.
So Prometheus thinks the world needs the fire Zeus is hiding, and decides to steal it in order to give it to humans. The punishment – a woman destined to release every evil imaginable into the “pristine” bubble in which mankind had been sheltered. The result - the world we live in today – filled with hate, death, greed, arrogance, poverty, sickness, war…..you get the point? Was Prometheus right or wrong in giving man fire?
Alright so everything that I’ve just said – shelve it for the time being.
What this version of Pandora’s box does not relate is the following:
“One day Prometheus looked down upon the earth and did not like what he saw. Men and women crouched in dark caves, cold, almost naked. They used tools chipped out of stone and ate their meat raw. They were dulled, brutish, speaking to each other in grunts. Prometheus went to Zeus and said:
‘Why do you keep the race of man in ignorance and darkness?’
‘What you call ignorance is innocence. Man is happy now, and will remain happy until someone persuades him he is unhappy. Do not meddle further with my designs.’ said Zeus…
But Prometheus was still not satisfied. The next morning he stood tiptoe on the mountaintop and stole some fire from the sunrise. Zeus looking down later could not believe what he saw. Everything was changed. Man had come out of his cave. Zeus saw huts, farmhouses, walled towns, a castle. He saw men cooking their food, carrying torches to light their way at night. They were raising white wings of sails and daring to use the fury of the winds for their voyages.”
Does this change your handcrafted picture of a Golden Age? So I ask you, does innocence/ignorance equal happiness? Does not knowing what might be…not knowing that there are greater things out there allow you to be happy with the moment you are in? Is the splendor of the moment we are in worth all of the evils Pandora unleashed on the world? One could argue that Prometheus didn’t just give us the tangible gift of fire, but fire in a metaphorical sense – a desire to work towards something – a PASSION, a spark between people. Was Prometheus right or wrong in giving us fire?
If you have read this far, I promise I’ll get to a point!!! I realize that your education level is far beyond that of a tenth grader, however this idea – a question merely posed to provoke discussion has far greater implications that even the wisest have yet to figure out.
This question is something that is becoming a greater struggle for me with each passing day. I have realized that this question is not something simply to be asked of fictitious mythical characters, but asked of my purpose here.
This question first started to rear its controversial head when wrestling with my own tendencies to push and to challenge my students, or my athletes (I am the ladies basketball coach here!!). Unlike the more individualistic values propagated by the American culture, being part of a community entails a strong desire to blend in. These kids have so much potential, so much beauty and talent if they would only devote the time and effort needed to allow them to blossom….. But they do not want to stand out amidst their peers – something I cannot fathom. I keep having to remind myself of this cultural incongruity. Am I really here to change their way of life and who they are? I think it would be utterly presumptuous to think I am. But do they find happiness in their innocence? Are they content with who they are, never catching a glimpse of even the shadow they could be with a little fire? At what point does my role as an educator and coach overstep my boundaries? Was Prometheus right or wrong in giving us fire?
My cogitation did not end there as I began to reflect not just on my job here, but on my purpose in being here at all. I often find myself complaining to the wind, “ ‘Wouldn’t it just be easier if they paved their pothole riddled roads so that it wouldn’t take longer to run than it does to drive?’ or ‘Wouldn’t it just be more comfortable if the power would stay on all the time instead of flickering on and off at whim?’ or ‘Wouldn’t it just be easier to invest in a better quality copier so that it doesn’t take an hour to make 40 double sided copies?’” Such is my mentality because I come from a place where dirt roads are only for those adventurous enough to take their SUV’s off-roading, where we really only notice our reliance on power during a thunderstorm, and where people xerox body parts for entertainment. I come from a place where bigger, better, and faster is the normal course of human progression. Perhaps the Chuukese are perfectly content with the way things are here because they have no conception of what else is out there. They are content in their innocence, and who am I to think that it is my assignment to corrupt that? Am I here with the intent of changing their lifestyle for the better because I know a better way? I think it would be utterly presumptuous to think that I am. Under my regime, children playing in the streets would be injured daily because of cars driving too fast, uninhibited by natural speed “bumps,” and schools and businesses would not have enough money to operate because the combination of the electricity bill the paper/toner bill would drain the account each month. Is growth, expansion and development worth the evils released on the world? Was Prometheus right or wrong in giving us fire?