During the fourth week of class, our overall theme was about magic in mythology. One of the main ways this was shown was in the form of gifts. A common story found in a lot of cultures is the theft of fire from the gods, which was then given to mankind. For example, in greek mythology the Titan Prometheus is credited for stealing fire from the Gods of Mount Olympus. In Australia, there is a story of a god named Koimul who once had fire, but a hummingbird stole his fire sticks and gave them to mankind so they too could use it. In Hawaiian culture, there is a story of Maui who asks for fire from the fire Goddess Mahu-ika, where at the end she hides herself in fire sticks which he used to give the people fire.
One of the biggest questions that arose from these stories is: why did fire have to be stolen from the Gods? Why did they just not give it up willingly as a gift? I hope to give you a reasonable answer.
Fire is an amazing tool. It can be used to generate heat and light, for signaling, agriculture, cooking, forging, etc. On the flip side, fire can also be used as a weapon of destruction. If used improperly, fire can have disastrous effects on others. I think this is why fire was commonly seen as a resource that previously belonged to a higher power. It has so many different uses and could be seen as not being worthy for us mere humans to wield. I also think that the appearance of fire may have had a factor in this belief. Fire is something bright and beautiful to look at, so possibly people back then may have thought that fire must have had to come from some higher power.
Hopefully this may help clear up some questions about the “why” fire was always stolen, but in the end it’s only a theory. If you have any different theories, feel free to reach out and let me know what you think!
TheMyth 