Zeus is certainly not a person to joke with, especially when it comes to his sacred fire. The punishments meted out by Zeus are probably anything but fair but are all very metaphorical and symbolic if the reader reads between the lines. Prometheus, creator of man and thief of fire, is punished by having his liver eaten by an eagle every day until the end of time. In The History of Prometheus translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, the reader sees that Zeus' impetuous reactions to Prometheus' jokes symbolize the severity of ancient Greek government, intolerance of disobedience and overconfidence, and the fear of the wrath of the power of the gods in ancient Greek culture. If the reader digs deeper into ancient Greek history and culture, he or she should discover a lot about Zeus' relationship with Prometheus. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay Zeus's drastic punishment of Prometheus in response to the theft of the sacred fire signifies the severity of the ancient Greek government in several ways. To punish Prometheus, Zeus “bound him with inextricable bonds, cruel chains, thrust an arrow through his middle, and placed upon him a long-winged eagle, which ate his immortal liver; but at night the liver resumed growth as much as the long-winged bird devoured each day. (“The Story of Prometheus,” 11. 507-543) This punishment is extremely significant because it depicts Zeus taking fire from Prometheus. The imagery depicted in this line is quite vivid and the eagle – Zeus – returns day after day to consume the liver of Prometheus – most often seen as human fire as it controls the blood and body temperature. When Hesiod writes the word “devoured,” he implies that Prometheus’ liver is being ripped out, because “devoured” is a more violent-sounding word. The descriptive value given to obligations, or "cruel chains", is closely linked to the manner in which the Greek government exercises a firm, eternal and "inextricable" hold on the Greek people. Inextricable also shows how seriously Zeus takes his punishment, because if he had been lighter in punishing Prometheus, he could have simply made the bonds destructible so that Prometheus could one day be freed. Pandora is one of Zeus' most extravagant punishments, "For from her is the race of women and of the female gender: from her is the mortal race and tribe of women who live among mortal men for their great misfortune, without any help in odious poverty, but only in wealth." (“The Story of Prometheus,” 11. 561-584) Just as Zeus cursed the Greeks with Pandora after they were given fire, the Greek government would compromise something good for something bad. Zeus believes that because humans were given fire, they must learn that not everything will turn out well for them. For this reason, he created Pandora and her box. In the box, Zeus places greed, disease, pain, misery and negativities of all kinds. However, he also places hope at the bottom of the pot, symbolizing Prometheus, man's only hope being the one who has always defended humanity. Zeus's impatience with Prometheus shows how disobedience and overconfidence were not tolerated in ancient Greek culture. Prometheus was often blinded in his decisions by his need to play pranks and have fun. Compelled by his ambition and amusement in tricks, Prometheus attempts to deceive Zeus, “…even then Prometheus was ahead to cut up a great ox and see portions of it before them,..