Prometheus is the Greek Titan punished with an eagle eating his liver after helping humanity.
In the myth cycle surrounding Pandora, Prometheus steals fire from Zeus and gives it to humans. Zeus responds by arranging Pandora’s creation and sending her to Epimetheus. Prometheus’s punishment is separate but connected: he is chained to a mountain, where an eagle repeatedly eats his liver, which grows back because he is immortal.
The details vary across ancient and later sources. Hesiod gives an early account of Prometheus’s conflict with Zeus, while the later play Prometheus Bound dramatically expands the image of his punishment. Heracles eventually kills the eagle and frees him in the familiar version of the story.
Prometheus has consequently become a symbol of rebellion, ingenuity, and technological progress. In ancient myth, however, his actions also trigger divine retaliation and help explain why humans suffer.