nic, West African and Chinese -- have myths which feature tricksters. There is one Greek god, however, that is considered somewhat of a trickster, although certainly not to the same extent as Loki -- Hermes. As soon as Hermes was born, he displayed this trait by stealing Apollo's cows. He was taken for judgement to Zeus after this crime, but he used his cunning, offering the lyre he invented, to escape punishment. In many ways this is much like Loki's behaviour, in that Loki often was able to talk his way out of predicaments.He was also somewhat like Zeus, known for his shape-changing. This was one of Loki's favourite "tricks."As god of fire, Loki could be compared to Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire. One of the major stories about Loki is his exile from Asgard for being indirectly responsible for the death of Balder. This punishment was meted out by Odin. Similarly, Hephaestus was ejected from Mt. Olympus by Zeus over an argument about one of Zeus' favourites, Heracles. However, these two gods cannot be considered direct counterparts because Loki is a major figure in Norse mythology, while Hephaestus is a much more incidental figure in the myths of the Greeks.There are many symbols present in Norse myths. The giants represent the powerful forces of nature for example. One major symbol applies to Loki specifically. This is fire, both in its good and bad sense. Loki often helps out the gods (fire in the good sense). Loki also sets the gods very far back -- even to death (the bad sense of fire). This would sum up Loki's character perfectly, as Loki was both good and bad, just like the fire he was the god of. PROMETHEUSThe first obvious commonality between the two would be the association with fire: Loki being the god of fire, and Prometheus being the bringer of fire to the humans. Above I mentioned both the "good" and "bad" aspects of fire. This can be applied to Prometheus' steakling of the fire from the gods of Olympus. Although the gi...
