Prometheus, son to Iapetus and the ocean nymph Clymene. In many legends he is represented as a friend to mankind. Thus when Zeus denied fire to men, Prometheus stole it and gave it to man. By means of a trick Prometheus arranged for men to get the best meat in sacrifices, giving the Gods the poorer parts wrapped in fat. He tried to prevent man from accepting Zeus' deceptive gift of woman. In best known of the myths that have gathered around Prometheus he is forever chained to a rock in the Caucasus where a vulture or an eagle tears out his liver. In some accounts this is his punishment for the trickery in regard to the sacrifices. In others it is having stole the fire. But the thing is far more dramatic: Prometheus knows Zeus has a child by the nymph Thetis, their son will be mightier than Zeus and will destroy him. And he accepts the torture on the rock rather than reveal this secret, since his not revealing it gives him power over Zeus. In some accounts he is persuaded to reveal the secret and is freed by Hercules. In others he remains the personification of the unconquerable will opposing tyranny, forever chained and suffering but confident of the ultimate triumph of his cause.