Why was prometheus chained to a rock

Every night his liver would grow back. This was to be his punishment for all of eternity. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Mary Shelley was influenced by this tale. Her husband Percy Shelley even began composing his own tale of Prometheus in the form of a poem entitled, Prometheus Unbound. He began composing this work right around the same time that Mary was publishing Frankenstein.

Aside from the title, Shelley borrows from the tale of Prometheus a sense of consequence resulting from seeking enlightenment and power. Victor is her modern incarnation of Prometheus. He as Prometheus was, is fascinated by the power of electricity lightning. We can recall from the narrative the moment when he becomes captivated by its fantastical power. It is from this power, that he has equipped himself with, that the inner torture he will suffer from the use of it stems.

Immediately following the creation if the creature, Victor is ill with disgust for what he has done. His torture mirrors that of Prometheus'; undying and eternal. What a dispute between mortals and immortals! And what a great story for artistic expressions and theatrical plays! And most importantly, that punishment was not the end of the tale of Prometheus and Zeus.

However Prometheus was not directly involved in the war, so Zeus saved him from Tartarus and gave him a mission — to form a man from water and earth. Prometheus accomplished the task, but while working on his creation, he grew fond of men. But Prometheus was thinking the other way, and decided to steal one of the powers Zeus was particularly sensitive about — fire. Thinking about stealing fire was easy, but it finally proved a bit more complicated.

It worked as he planned — the goddesses started a fight over the fruit while gods were completely enjoying the scene.

Hephaestus was, among other stuff, the Greek god of fire. Oh, how Zeus was mad. After so many times being defied by Prometheus, Zeus decided that it was enough. Nevertheless, he made Hephaestus himself to chain Prometheus on Mount Caucasus where the eagle would eat his liver forever.

But, time passed and Zeus offered at one occasion to free Prometheus in exchange for a revelation of the prophecy that predicted the dethroning of Zeus. Prometheus refused. Zeus was very angry initially but eventually agreed to grant Prometheus his freedom. Well, some sort of freedom since Zeus wanted Prometheus to carry a reminder of his punishment forever — he ordered Prometheus to make a steel ring from the chains he was in, and wear that ring from then on.