Edwardo Leon
ENG 202
Frankenstein/ Prometheus myth comparison
The story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is similar to that of a Greek tragedy and
namely the myth of the titan, Prometheus. The characters as well as the plot are all
similar between the two stories. Many have argued that Frankenstein is based on the
Prometheus myth. I will attempt to show that there are many different parts of
Frankenstein that are remarkably similar to the myth and draw a comparison between the
two stories.
The story of Prometheus is similar in many ways to that of Frankenstein. In
Frankenstein, Victor uses all of his acumen to create life. He had followed the ancient
arts of the natural sciences and achieved something that no mortal had done before which
is bring life into this world through scientific means. The problem is that he did this
without the consent of God. He went against the will of God even though that was not his
original intent. His act of playing God caused him to suffer greatly. His entire family was
decimated by death in order to satisfy the creation’s desire to win his father’s love and
support. Victor was meant to suffer for his decision to play God and bring something into
this world that wasn’t meant to be created.
In the myth of Prometheus, Prometheus was a titan. They were the first major
gods after the creation of life by the ancient gods including Chaos and Gaia. After a
major rebellion in the heavens by the children of the titan Kronos, the titans were cast out
of the heavens for the most part except for Prometheus. Prometheus helped the current
gods led by Zeus to gain power. He eventually fell out of favor with Zeus as he attempted
to help the human race on earth which Zeus loathed. Zeus wanted to start over with
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creation and was waiting for the human race to die out. Prometheus prevented this and
bestowed on man the gift of fire. As punishment, Zeus had Prometheus chained to a peak
in the Caucasus Mountains. He was forced to suffer for all of eternity until the arrival of
Hercules. His liver was eaten each day by an Eagle and at dawn it would grow back only
to be eaten again. Frankenstein and Prometheus attempted to bring life to this world, but
without the consent of God, they were made to suffer for their acts.
Another part of Frankenstein that seemed to be similar with the Prometheus myth
was that both primitive man and the creation of Victor were both basically given life by
science. Even though primitive man was already created, fire is what provided them with
continued life and allowed them to grow and prevent their extinction. Victor’s creation
was given life by electricity. As electricity went through the creation’s body, it was
brought into existence. Fire is a representation of the old sciences and electricity seems to
represent the new age. Both fire and electricity play a major role in lives of the characters
and are equally important in both stories.
The characters of Frankenstein were also very similar to that of the Prometheus
myth. The main characters which are Victor and Prometheus are very similar. They are
both very intelligent. Victor is praised for his aptitude and is considered one of the
greatest minds at Inglostadt. He had surpassed most of his peers and was on pace for a
great future. Professor Waldman, who was one of Victor’s professors, even stated that
“he has outstript us all.” (Shelley 44) Prometheus was one of the cleverest and brightest
minds in the heavens. Even though the titans had lost power, Prometheus was able to
outwit Zeus on many instances and proved that he had superior knowledge and insight.
Even though both men were very intelligent and peerless in many respects, they had
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many foolish and even prideful characteristics. They both wanted to shape life in the way
that they wanted to without the consent of those that held power over them. They were
both successful in creating life, but they were forced to suffer because they rebelled
against the will of powers above them. Victor‘s character, as designed by Shelley, seems
to be strongly based on Prometheus and this can be easily seen throughout the story as
they are very similar in many respects.
Frankenstein’s creation seems to be the primitive man in the Prometheus story.
Even though primitive man in the Prometheus myth was not vengeful, he represents an
unwanted creation. Even though Victor at first wanted to bring new life into this world,
he was frightened by what he saw as his creation opened his eyes. In his narrative, he
even states that he was “unable to endure the aspect of the being, I rushed out of the
room….” (35) The creation is not wanted whatsoever. Victor can not bear the sight of his
creation and is saddened by what he has brought into this world. Zeus does not want the
human race to survive. He sees them as part of the previous gods designs and wants
nothing to do with them at all. The reason that Prometheus brought fire to primitive man
was because Zeus wanted them to be destroyed and he would not stand for it. He gave
them many other gifts besides fire, but fire was what upset Zeus the most. Both the
“monster” and the primitive man were unwanted by their respective creators.
The next comparison between characters may seem like a reach, but they both had
the same effect essentially. Hercules and Walton are similar not in physical
characteristics or even mental capacity. In the myth, Hercules freed Prometheus from his
bonds in the Caucasus Mountains and killed Zeus’ eagle that ate Prometheus’ liver
everyday. He allowed Prometheus’ suffering to end and Walton did the same thing for
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Victor. Walton allowed Victor to tell his story. That may not seem important, but for a
person who had to live in secret and saw his entire family die, it was very important. The
fact that Walton listened to Victor allowed him to die. Victor had the burden of years of
torment and pain on his shoulders and the release of this onto Walton made Victor’s
death easier. Walton and Hercules both freed the two from their bonds.
Pandora is another character in the Prometheus myth that doesn’t seem to
represent one character, but something else entirely. Pandora seems to represent divine
anger. Since neither primitive man nor the creation was wanted by the divine, then
suffering was given to them. In the myth, it was Pandora. Pandora was the first woman
and molded by Hephaestus. She was delivered as a gift by Zeus to mankind. She brought
a box with her and when she opened it death, disease, and suffering were sent into the
world. In Frankenstein, divine anger was sent upon Victor as well as his creation. Each
suffered in their own way. Frankenstein suffered because of loss and the “monster”
suffered because of abandonment. Suffering is a major theme of both stories.
The Promethean myth and Frankenstein were similar in their plot as well as their
characters. The story of Frankenstein seems to follow that of the Prometheus myth to the
letter. There was an idea to create/protect life, suffering was the result, and the suffering
was followed by a release of bonds of the main character either physically or mentally.
Frankenstein is simply a more modern Prometheus myth with various twists and more
expanded plot. It was no accident that the comparison of Frankenstein and the
Promethean myth was made. I believe that Shelley wanted to show that the choices we
make have consequences. Even though there are altruistic reasons for doing something,
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we must be ready to accept whatever goes with it. Frankenstein is remarkably parallel to
the Promethean myth in all senses of the word.
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Works Cited
Hard, Robin. The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. London: Routledge, 2004.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1994.