After bestowing this "gracious reward" upon Prometheus, the God-King did not spare the falling figure another glance. He only said softly, "Let us return."
From this day, the mortal world will grow tainted. He sighed deeply in His heart.
In such a moment, no god dared say a word more. They all answered softly and followed the God-King back to Olympus.
Many gods could not understand Prometheus's actions at all.
Or rather, it seemed that among all the male gods of the house of Iapetus, not one was normal.
The only one who had once appeared halfway sensible—Prometheus—now seemed perhaps the most foolish of the lot.
As for whether Prometheus's punishment was too severe?
Not a single god felt it was excessive.
Before almost all the gods of the cosmos, he had dared, by such clumsy means, to deceive and scheme against the supreme God-King; to trample and defile the sacred covenant the God-King had only just declared with His own mouth; to disrupt the God-King's Sacred Order in the worst possible way…
No matter how great his merits had once been, under such an "absolute act of defiance," they counted for nothing.
The very fact that His Majesty had not at once hurled Prometheus—together with the humans he so cherished—into Tartarus was already the greatest kindness and mercy.
His Majesty was still too merciful, too magnanimous.
Doubtless, this had much to do with Clymene…
His Majesty's "fatherly love" ran very deep indeed!
At this, many gods cast pitying looks upon Clymene, still unconscious in Metis's arms.
What sin had she committed?
How had she birthed such strange sons?
Clymene was clearly so beautiful and moving, gentle and generous, the very finest and purest of Ocean's daughters.
So why were her sons all so unsound in the head?
It had to be Iapetus's fault!
Enough!
From now on, none of their daughters must ever again grow close to any male god of Iapetus's line!
There was definitely something wrong with that house!
And—odd.
Why had Epimetheus not come to the rite this time?
With such a lively occasion, that fool ought to have been the keenest to attend.
Only then did the gods realize that Epimetheus had not joined the ceremony at all.
They did not dwell on it. Each assumed the fool had simply blundered again, gave a little sneer, and went their way.
After all…
who cared what a fool was doing?
As for Zeus, though He looked very angry, He was in truth not truly enraged.
After all, everything was within His control. What was there to be angry about?
If He had truly been furious, this would not have been the extent of the punishment.
The God-King's wrath, once unbound, meant heaven and earth overturned and star-rivers rolling back.
He only sighed silently within.
No matter how many times the cycle was reset, Prometheus would still make the same choice.
At the key moment, he would always choose the path that best satisfied present desire.
Zeus had not deliberately set a trap for him, nor actively pushed him.
And yet Prometheus, still fancying himself clever, made the worst possible choice.
Though, in his eyes, that choice might have seemed "right."
It was "for the children," to win them more room to live.
Is it truly "wrong" to deceive for the sake of survival?
Perhaps it cannot be explained so simply; perhaps there is no absolute in this world.
But Prometheus had not been without other choices.
If, after choosing "sincerity" and "faithfulness," the problem still could not be solved,
then in a true dead end, to use "deceit" to seek "survival" would no longer be wrong.
But he had not done so.
From the very start, he had feared that "sincerity" would not bring "success."
Because he wanted more, because he wanted a "greater chance of success," from the very beginning he had chosen "deceit" and "scheming" directly.
And thus, from now on, "deceit" would inevitably be carved deep into humanity's soul.
"Faithfulness" would become a rare and precious virtue.
For the god who was both one of their creators and their chief teacher had already, by his own hand, cast aside the path of "faithfulness" before them.
What remained for humankind was only "deceit."
The God-King's "responsibility" would only be granted to those of "faithfulness."
For that was the "covenant" He had laid down.
The gods shouldered "responsibility"; humankind honored them with "faithfulness."
The gods' shelter and favor would only be given to those who kept their word.
From this moment, it was fixed that deceit would spread among humankind.
Had Prometheus chosen "faithfulness," Zeus would have granted humankind the most generous grace without hesitation.
But Prometheus had not.
He wanted to get the most and greatest benefit for humankind, without wanting them to pay any matching price.
In that greedy, obsessive fixation, he even forgot that at the moment of the God-King's arrival, Zeus had already granted grace and wiped away all current hunger and pain from humankind.
He wanted to "gain," but not by "fair exchange"—rather, by trying to cheat directly from the gods.
He never considered that what the gods own belongs to the gods, and what mortals own belongs to mortals.
Between the two, there may be exchange and petition, but never theft.
Wanting gain without paying a price—that is "something for nothing."
Racking one's brains to use "deceit" and "scheming," hoping to "win big with a small stake," even dreaming of getting away with no cost at all—that is "opportunistic trickery."
From this day, these two base qualities would also be etched into the souls of humankind.
This so-called god of "foreknowledge" had neither truly "foreseen" nor truly "foreknew."
Mortals can never deceive gods.
All their little tricks and short-cuts are forever laughable in the eyes of gods.
Mortals cannot win "something for nothing" from gods.
But from their own kind—they can.
Prometheus had granted many beautiful virtues to humankind, but he also brought these most corrupting vices with them.
His so-called "wisdom" and "cleverness," when human "interest" was at stake, all clouded into "greed."
Once greed stirs, the mind falls into delusion; once the heart knows no sufficiency, it sinks into a sea of suffering without shore.
The seeds of "desire" in humanity's heart were watered, by Prometheus's own hand, with the poison-sources of "deceit," "scheming," "greed," and "opportunistic trickery," within Zeus's boundless regret.
This seed was destined not to bear very good flowers.
"Wanting everyone to flourish" and "wanting oneself to profit"—these two entirely different "desires" would, in the end, make human society into something entirely different.
The poison planted in a race's collective spirit is far more dreadful than the death of a few bodies; it spreads across generations and becomes a foundational disease at the root of their civilization.
Yet Zeus did not prevent any of this.
For desire is also a ladder for civilizational progress.
Civilizational leaps are often driven by dissatisfaction.
Of course, all things have a proper measure.
If fundamental morality and faithfulness are cast out first, then so-called "progress" is only barbarism cloaked in brilliance.
Thus Zeus's judgment on Prometheus was not mere punishment, but a lesson, a reestablishment of order.
What began with Prometheus must, through his end, warn humankind:
Foolishness, greed, and deceit demand a price.
And teach humankind as well that what the gods grant is never meant to be stolen.
Exchange should be a clean and solemn rite, not a petty trick of theft.
But no matter what, humankind—this now "polluted" race—was no longer worthy of the gods' special favor.
The gods would not like a sullied mortal world.
New intelligent life would appear in the near future.
And then, Prometheus would personally taste the bitter fruit he had sown today.
He who started it will not go unscathed.
The drastic changes of so short a time were devastating blows to humankind, far beyond what they could bear or comprehend.
They had no idea what had happened.
Nor did they understand why it had.
Everything had been going so well, so smoothly.
The gods' favor had clearly been within reach.
Yet just after the offerings were prepared, suddenly heaven and earth changed!
The warm, gentle auspicious clouds turned into oppressive storm-clouds.
Even the sacred flame they relied on, their warmest friend, suddenly grew explosive and violent—indeed, almost ferocious and terrifying.
Then that holy fire, after sweeping and burning away one half of the offerings, actually… flew into the sky!
From all directions—from every tribe, every cave, every single fire on which they survived; every fire they depended on—every one of those flames rose up, merged into an endless sea of fire, and flew to the heavens, vanishing utterly!
That most familiar, most relied-upon flame vanished from all eyes!
Bone-deep "cold" fell upon mortal bodies for the first time.
Their thin hides could no longer keep out winter's knifing chill.
Not long ago, they had been blessed by the God-King; they had yet to recover from that great joy and happiness when, in an instant, they fell into even deeper confusion and despair.
Had the gods not accepted the offerings?
Then why… had this happened?
And those humans who had taken part in the rite had seen with their own eyes their most revered and beloved god—Prometheus—plummet from the highest heaven like a falling star!
That speed was far from normal!
Even as he neared the ground, he showed no sign of stopping.
With a single thunderous crash, he struck the distant earth!
The solid ground was smashed into a terrifying crater!
A violent quake shook the land and mountains, knocking every standing being to the ground.
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