Who is epimetheus

Epimetheus was tasked to create animals and is also known as the creator of all the animals on earth. His mission was to give all animals a positive trait. However, because of his lack of foresight, he used all of the traits for animals, not leaving a single thing for Prometheus and mankind.

And on top of everything the animals that he created and richly, but without careful thinking, equipped with positive traits, eventually turned against him. After Prometheus' punishment for stealing fire, Pandora was set to become a wife of Epimetheus and bring misfortune upon mankind and animals, the creation of the brothers. Pandora was created by Hephaestus , on the orders of Zeus who wanted to take revenge on the brothers and their creation. When Pandora was crafted out of water and earth and when the Four Winds breathed life into her, each of the gods had given her a gift of their own.

Aphrodite gave her beauty and desire. Hermes gave her a cunning mind and crafty tongue. Athena gave her clothes and taught her how to skillfully use her hands. Poseidon gave her a pearl necklace that would prevent her from drowning. Apollo taught her about music, how to sing and play instruments.

Zeus gave her a foolish, mischievous nature and, as last one, Hera gave her a tricky gift, curiosity. Once Pandora was presented to Epimetheus, he instantly fell in love with her and married her without a single thought or any prior consideration, despite his brother's warning never to accept any gifts from Zeus.

Soon they had a wedding which included all the gods and Zeus gave them a special box as a wedding gift and told Epimetheus that there is no more hard feelings between them. In their marriage Epimetheus and Pandora had one daughter :. Pyrrha - She was a wife of Deucalion , a son of Prometheus, and together they survived the great flood. After the flood they were instructed at the oracle of Delphi to repopulate the world with throwing "bones" of their "mother" behind their shoulders.

They understood bones to be rocks and mother to be Gaea so they started throwing rocks behind their shoulders and this is how they started shaping mankind again. Epimetheus was responsible for giving a positive trait to every animal, but when it was time to give man a positive trait, lacking foresight he found that there was nothing left. Prometheus decided that mankind's attributes would be the civilizing arts and fire, which he stole from Zeus. Prometheus later stood trial for his crime.

In the context of Plato's dialogue, "Epimetheus, the being in whom thought follows production, represents nature in the sense of materialism, according to which thought comes later than thoughtless bodies and their thoughtless motions.

According to Hesiod, who related the tale twice Theogony, ff; Works and Days 57ff , Epimetheus was the one who accepted the gift of Pandora from the gods. Their marriage may be inferred and was by later authors , but it is not made explicit in either text.

In later myths, the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora was Pyrrha, who married Deucalion, a descendant of Prometheus.

Together they are the only two humans who survived the deluge. Greek Myth Wikia Explore. Greek Mythology. Homer Hesiod. About Us. Policies FAQs.