The Gifts of Prometheus
Prometheus had a difficult time convincing Zeus to allow him to make mankind. After Prometheus persuaded Zeus that it would be amusing to watch the drama of mankind unfold, Zeus consented, with the rule that Prometheus could not make mankind too powerful, too much like the gods. They could be the greatest of animals, but they could not become a threat to the gods. Prometheus agreed, and went about creating mankind, with Athena breathing into their lungs the breath of life. Prometheus was proud of what he had created. He loved his creation, adored them even, so it was too tempting—he went to Mount Olympus to steal a bit of the fire from the gods to give to mankind, and in doing so disobeyed Zeus. Literal fire, which mankind could use to cook their meals, heat their homes, and forge their metals to build the physical structure of society. And symbolic fire, the gift of reason, thought, and language, with which we understand the world, communicate ideas, and build the theoretical structure of society. With this gift of reason, not just to think, but to think about thinking, mankind became a threat to the gods. Not quite animal, not quite divine. Mankind goes about their lives longing for the infinite and immortality, yet limited by the finite and mortality.
So it is when we participate in exercising reason that we are being our most human.
We are the rational animal. Let us not think of Prometheus suffering his punishment for disobeying Zeus in vain. Let us make a daily habit of exercising reason.