s the bringer of light for rebirth in Indian mythology. James Frazer gives many examples about the original theft of fire from a wide variety of cultures in his essay .There is no doubt that the Promethean tradition has become an everyday aspect of literary and artistic society: Shakespearean lines such as Womens eyes are the source of true Promethean fire to And faster bound to Aarons charming eyes, than is Prometheus tied to the Caucaus 4 illustrate this, (Nietzsche also argues that Hamlet is a Dionysiac Promethean hero)5 . The great Romantic Poets offered their interpretations of the myth; Byrons Prometheus and P B Shelleys sequel Prometheus Unbound. Milton used the Promethean myth to shape his characterisation of Satan in Paradise Lost; indeed The Book of Genesis can be seen as an example of the complete Promethean myth: Adams temptation with forbidden knowledge and subsequent fall from grace completely encapsulates the Prometheus/Faustus myth. In this case it is an example of a Greek myth being appropriated and assimilated into Christian, Jewish and Islamic dogma. A more contemporary example is Hitlers description of Napoleon : He is the Prometheus of Mankind6 and the recent Coen Brothers Movie Fargo in which William H Macys character is depicted as a complex example of the Promethean hero. Or Mickey Rourkes characterisation of a post second world war Faustus, in which he sells his soul to the devil (Robert De Niro) in order to become Johnny Angel: a crooner with a pair of tonsils to me yeh weep(sic) in Allan Parkers movie Angel Heart. It is however, Marlowes Dr Faustus, based on the English Faust book where we find what is essentially the core of the Promethean myth, the fall of man from (a) God. This loss of power and subsequent impotence can be clearly seen in the characterisation of Faustus.The powerless hero, or power crazy fool. The perceived view of the venerable Doctor Faustus can depend on whether you view...
