View source for Religion:Theft of fire

{{short description|Recurring theme in world mythologies}}
[[File:Heinrich fueger 1817 prometheus brings fire to mankind.jpg|thumb|''Prometheus Brings Fire to Mankind'' (1817) by Heinrich Füger]]

The '''theft of fire''' for the benefit of humanity is a theme that recurs in many world mythologies, symbolizing the acquisition of knowledge, or technology, and its transformative impact on civilization.<ref> This narrative is classified in the ''[[Motif-Index of Folk-Literature]]'' as motif A1415. Thompson, Stith (1977). ''The Folktale''. University of California Press. p. 240. {{ISBN|0-520-03537-2}}.</ref> Its recurrent themes include [[Social:Trickster|trickster]] figures as the thief, and supernatural heroic guardians who hoard fire from humanity, often out of mistrust for humans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Groon |first1=Gerald Henry |title=Torches, Thieves, and Tinder: Recurring Themes in Mythical Origins of Fire |journal=Carolina Digital Repository |date=30 May 2020 |doi=10.17615/1sep-8z59 |url=https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/concern/masters_papers/5q47rt763 |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref> These myths reflect the profound significance of fire in human history, seen as a pivotal step in the development of human society.

In African mythology, the San peoples tell of [[Religion:ǀKaggen|ǀKaggen]], stealing fire from the ostrich and bringing it to people. In the Americas, Native American and First Nations tribes attribute the gift of fire to animals.
In Eurasian cultures, fire theft takes on various forms. The Vedic Rigveda narrates hero Mātariśvan recovering hidden fire. Greek mythology recounts [[Religion:Prometheus|Prometheus]] stealing heavenly fire for humanity, a deed for which he suffered greatly. In Oceania, Polynesian myths often feature Māui as the fire thief, with diverse variations across regions.

The metaphor of fire theft extends into modern times, particularly in the context of nuclear weapons. The destructive power of atomic bombs is likened to Prometheus's act, symbolizing the dangerous knowledge humanity has gained. This comparison has been drawn in publications and discussions, emphasizing the ethical and moral implications of [[Engineering:Nuclear technology|nuclear technology]]. Figures like Robert Oppenheimer, and statesmen [[Biography:Henry Kissinger|Henry Kissinger]] have invoked the metaphor to highlight the responsibility that comes with such power. The narrative highlights the dual nature of technological advancement, capable of advancing society and posing significant threats.

==Examples==

=== Africa ===

The San peoples, the indigenous Southern African [[Biology:Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherer]]s, tell how [[Religion:ǀKaggen|ǀKaggen]], in the form of a mantis, brought the first fire to the people by stealing it from the [[Biology:Ostrich|ostrich]], who kept the fire beneath its wings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Penny |title=Myths and Legends of Southern Africa |year=1979 |publisher=T. V. Bulpin |isbn=978-0-949956-16-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EYzfAAAAMAAJ&q=mantis+ostrich+fire |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=How the ostrich lost his fire and other stories |publisher=Tales By Roohi |isbn=978-1-4763-8843-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-LyyWq66VkC&dq=kaggen+fire+ostrich&pg=PT16 |access-date=17 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref> In another version of the myth, Piisi|koagu steals fire from the ostrich.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tanaka |first1=Jiro |title=The World of Animals Viewed by the San Hunter-Gatherers in Kalahari |journal=African Study Monographs |date=December 1996 |volume=22 |page=26 |doi=10.14989/68379 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===The Americas===
Among various Native American tribes of the [[Place:Pacific Northwest|Pacific Northwest]] and First Nations, fire was stolen and given to humans by Coyote, Beaver or Dog.<ref>Judson, Katharine B. ''Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest''. Chicago, 1912.</ref>

In Algonquin myth, Rabbit stole fire from an old man and his two daughters.<ref>Alexander, Hartley Burr. ''The Mythology of All Races. Vol 10: North American''. Boston, 1916.</ref>

In Cherokee myth, after Possum and Buzzard had failed to steal fire, Grandmother Spider used her web to sneak into the land of light. She stole fire, hiding it in a clay pot or a silk net.<ref>Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. ''American Indian Myths and Legends''. New York, 1984.</ref>

According to a Mazatec legend, the [[Biology:Opossum|opossum]] spread fire to humanity. Fire fell from a star and an old woman kept it for herself. The opossum took fire from the old woman and carried the flame on its tail, resulting in its hairlessness.<ref>{{cite web |title=La leyenda del tlacuache que trajo el fuego a la humanidad |url=https://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/la-leyenda-del-tlacuache.html |website=México Desconocido |access-date=22 January 2019 |language=es |date=14 December 2018}}</ref>

According to the Muscogees/Creeks, Rabbit stole fire from the Weasels.<ref>Swanton, John. "Myths and Tales of the Southeastern Indians." ''Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin'' 88: 1929.</ref>

In Ojibwa myth, [[Religion:Nanabozho|Nanabozho]] the hare stole fire and gave it to humans.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

According to some [[Earth:Yukon|Yukon]] First Nations people, Crow stole fire from a volcano in the middle of the water.<ref>{{cite web
  | last = Janke
  | first = Daniel
  | title = How People Got Fire (animated short)
  | publisher = [[Organization:National Film Board of Canada|National Film Board of Canada]]
  | year = 2008
  | url = http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=57017
  | format = DVD
  | access-date = 2010-02-10}}
</ref>

In a story from the Lengua/Enxet people of the Gran Chaco in Paraguay, a man steals fire from a bird after he notices the bird cooking snails on burning sticks. The bird enacts revenge by creating a thunderstorm that damages the man's village.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frazer |first1=James George |title=Myths of the origin of fire: an essay |date=1930 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London |pages=123–124 |url=https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Frazer_Myths_Origin_Fire.pdf |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref>

===Eurasia===
According to the [[Religion:Historical Vedic religion|vedic]] ''[[Religion:Rigveda|Rigveda]]'' (3:9.5), the hero Mātariśvan recovered fire, which had been hidden from humanity.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In [[Religion:Greek mythology|Greek mythology]], according to [[Biography:Hesiod|Hesiod]] ([[Religion:Theogony|Theogony]], [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html#10 565-566] and Works & Days, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodWorksDays.html#Pandora 50]) and Pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheca, [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html#7 1.7.1]), the Titan-god [[Religion:Prometheus|Prometheus]] steals the heavenly fire for humanity, enabling the progress of civilization, for which he was punished by being chained to a mountain and having his liver eaten by an eagle every day until being eventually being freed by the hero [[Religion:Heracles|Heracles]].<ref>[[Biography:Hesiod|Hesiod]], ''[[Religion:Theogony|Theogony]]'' 526-8</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Greenberg|first1=Mike|last2=PhD|date=2020-05-04|title=Prometheus: The Complete Guide to the Greek Titan (2021)|url=https://mythologysource.com/prometheus-greek-titan/|access-date=2021-05-11|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-05-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511222124/https://mythologysource.com/prometheus-greek-titan/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In one of the versions of [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgian]] myth, Amirani stole fire from [[Engineering:Metalsmith|metalsmith]]s, who refused to share it – and knowledge of creating it – with other humans.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

The Vainakh hero Pkharmat brought fire to mankind and was chained to [[Earth:Mount Kazbek|Mount Kazbek]] as punishment.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

===Oceania===
In Polynesian myth, Māui is the thief of fire. There are many variations of the myth. In the version told in New Zealand, an ancestress of Maui is the keeper of fire, and she stores it in her fingernails and toenails. Maui nearly tricks her into giving him all of her nails, but she catches onto him and throws her last toenail down, engulfing the ground in flame and nearly killing Maui.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bucková |first1=Martina |title=Variations of myths concerning the origin of fire in eastern Polynesia |journal=Asian and African Studies |date=2009 |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=327–330 |url=https://www.sav.sk/journals/uploads/092611369_Bucková.pdf |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref>

In the mythology of the Wurundjeri people of Australia, it was the Crow who stole the secret of fire from the Karatgurk women.<ref>{{cite book | author=Mudrooroo  | title =Aboriginal mythology: An A-Z spanning the history of the Australian Aboriginal people from the earliest legends to the present day  | publisher = Thorsons  | year = 1994  | location = London  | pages = 35–36  | isbn = 978-1-85538-306-7}}</ref>

== Nuclear weapons ==
Since shortly after the detonation of the first [[Engineering:Nuclear weapon|atomic bombs]], the destructive power of atomic weapons has been compared to the story of Prometheus and the theft of fire.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boyer|first=Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hsEBAwAAQBAJ|title=By the Bomb's Early Light: American Thought and Culture At the Dawn of the Atomic Age|date=2005-10-21|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-7570-4|pages=10|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Fousek|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LafqCQAAQBAJ|title=To Lead the Free World: American Nationalism and the Cultural Roots of the Cold War|date=2003-06-20|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-6067-0|language=en}}</ref>

F. L. Campbell wrote in "Science on the March: Atomic Thunderbolts", in the September 1945 issue of ''The Scientific Monthly'':

<blockquote>Modern Prometheans have raided Mount Olympus again and have brought back for man the very thunderbolts of Zeus.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=F. L. |last=Campbell |title=Atomic Thunderbolts |volume=61 |issue=3 |date=September 1945 |journal=The Scientific Monthly |jstor=18583 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_scientific-monthly_1945-09_61_3/page/234 |pages=233–234|bibcode=1945SciMo..61..233C }}</ref></blockquote>

The biography of [[Biography:J. Robert Oppenheimer|Robert Oppenheimer]] by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin is entitled ''American Prometheus'' in reference to the myth. Further comparisons to Prometheus have been made in publications by the {{wipe|United Nations}},<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Neuneck|first=Götz|date=2017|title=60 Jahre nuklearer Prometheus oder Sisyphos?|journal=Vereinte Nationen: German Review on the United Nations|volume=65|issue=4|pages=170–176|doi=10.35998/vn-2017-0051 |jstor=48551110|s2cid=257072463 |issn=0042-384X}}</ref> [[Organization:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT's]] ''Technology Review''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/MIT-Technology-Review-1980-06|title=How Prometheus came to be bound: nuclear regulation in America|date=June 1980|publisher=Technology Review |page=29|language=en}}</ref> and [[Organization:Harvard University|Harvard's]] Nuclear Study Group.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Albert Carnesale |author2=Paul Doty |author3=Stanley Hoffmann |author4=Samuel P. Huntington |author5=Joseph S. Nye Jr |author6=Scott D. Sagan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7KG3QzHy0ygC|title=Living with Nuclear Weapons |date=1983|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-53665-4|language=en}}</ref>

The "theft of fire" metaphor has also been used to argue against the proliferation of [[Engineering:Nuclear weapon|nuclear weapon]]s by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prometheus-bound: an end to nuclear explosive tests |url=https://www.sipri.org/commentary/blog/2016/prometheus-bound-end-nuclear-explosive-tests|access-date=2021-10-15|website=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|date=29 August 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Extinguishing Prometheus' Nuclear Flame: International Day Against Nuclear Tests|url=http://southasiajournal.net/extinguishing-prometheus-nuclear-flame-international-day-against-nuclear-tests/|access-date=2021-10-15|website=South Asia Journal|date=8 October 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> and repeatedly by [[Social:Politician|statesman]] [[Biography:Henry Kissinger|Henry Kissinger]] as early as 1957,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kissinger|first=Henry A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbuZDwAAQBAJ|title=Nuclear Weapons And Foreign Policy|date=2019-03-13|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-429-71636-2|pages=65|language=en}}</ref> at the Munich Security Conference<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kissinger|first=Henry A.|date=2009-02-06|department=Opinion |title=Containing the fire of the gods|language=en-US|newspaper={{wipe|The New York Times}}|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/opinion/06iht-edkissinger.1.19991669.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2021-10-15|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and as part of the Nuclear Threat Initiative with former Senator Sam Nunn, former Secretary of Defense William Perry and former Secretary of State George Shultz.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2013-03-06|title=Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Risks|language=en-US|work={{wipe|The Wall Street Journal}}|url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324338604578325912939001772.html|access-date=2021-10-15|issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Henry A. Kissinger |author2=Sam Nunn |author3=William J. Perry |author4=George P. Shultz |date=March 5, 2013 |title=Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Risks: The Pace of Nonproliferation Work Today Doesn't Match the Urgency of the Threat |url=https://www.nti.org/analysis/opinions/next-steps-reducing-nuclear-risks-pace-nonproliferation-work-today-doesnt-match-urgency-threat/|access-date=2021-10-15|website=Nuclear Threat Initiative}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Picard|first=Joe|date=2013-12-13|title=Limiting nuclear weapons: Diplomacy and dialogue|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/homeland-security/192844-limiting-nuclear-weapons-diplomacy-and-dialogue|access-date=2021-10-15|website=The Hill|language=en}}</ref> [[Biography:Pro-nuclear movement|Supporters of nuclear power]] have interpreted the anecdote more favorably.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Watson|first=David de Caires|date=2021-08-13|title=What Greek Myth Teaches Us About The Morality Of Nuclear Technology|url=https://medium.com/generation-atomic/what-greek-myth-teaches-us-about-how-we-use-nuclear-technology-38557c776a9|access-date=2021-10-15|website=The Kernel|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Social:Comparative mythology|Comparative mythology]]
* [[Biology:Control of fire by early humans|Control of fire by early humans]]
* Olympic flame

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{EB1911 poster|Prometheus}}
* {{cite journal |last=Abenójar |first=Óscar |year=2019 |title=La Anciana Y El Robo Del Fuego. Tipología Y distribución De Las Variantes Del Mito |journal=Boletín de Literatura Oral |volume=9 (julio) |pages=13–34 |doi=10.17561/blo.v9.1|s2cid=199242615 |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=7008522 }}
* {{cite journal |url=http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0103-40142002000100009&script=sci_arttext |title=O fogo e as chamas dos mitos'' |lang=pt |first=Betty |last=Mindlin|journal=Estudos Avançados |year=2002 |volume=16 |issue=44 |pages=149–169 |doi=10.1590/S0103-40142002000100009 |doi-access=free }} Essay about the origin of fire, stealing of fire, keeping of fire in different South-American indigenous cultures

[[Category:Creation myths]]

{{Sourceattribution|Theft of fire}}