1.

1 Can you see anything in this room which has NOT involved the use of fire to make it?
1.2 We are going to look at a picture as a whole class. It will be revealed bit by bit. At each stage, just
tell yourself what you can see. You can speak out loud if you want. (You can find the picture in
the end of this unit.)
1.3 Now you have the whole picture in front of you:
1) what do you definitely know you can see?
2) What do you guess you can see?

2.1 You’re going to listen to a story. Try and picture it in your mind and listen out for some of the
things that have been said

Prometheus

Many, many, many thousands of years ago, the earth was young. Only gods, half-gods and animals
1 set foot upon its lands, flew in its bright skies or swam in its clear lakes and wide seas. The god Zeus
ruled over all.

One day he watched as a half-god, Prometheus, played with the sticky, wet mud on a river bank. He
watched and saw how Prometheus gathered and moulded the mud. He watched and saw how
Prometheus moulded something which had the shape of a foot, a god’s foot. He watched and saw
how from the foot Prometheus moulded the shape of a leg, a god’s leg; and another leg and then on
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the legs how Prometheus moulded a body, with two arms and hands and on the body a neck and a
head with two ears, a nose, a mouth and two eyes.

He watched and saw how Prometheus moulded more and more figures, some tall, some short, some
3
sitting, some standing, until Prometheus was lost among all his creations.

Suddenly Prometheus was aware of Zeus’ presence. He bowed before the king and listened excitedly
as Zeus began to speak: “I am pleased with the figures you have moulded, Prometheus. I shall bring
4 them to life and we shall have created a new creature. We shall call it a “human being” and these
humans shall have all the lands of the earth to live in and treat as their own. They shall have
everything … apart from fire. I forbid them to have fire.”

And so Zeus brought them to life. The humans saw Zeus and knew his power. With Prometheus’ help
they made the earth their home and were very happy. Prometheus taught them language and
together they gave names to things and told each other stories of each new day. They had food in
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abundance because the trees, bushes and plants provided them with sweet fruits and nuts and seeds
1
for nourishment and strength. Leaves and branches gave them shelter and coverings. The calls of
birds delighted their ears and taught them music and their own happiness made them run and skip
and jump. With Prometheus they sang songs to Zeus and danced his glory. Zeus received their praises
and he watched and thought.
 Winter came. The trees no longer gave out fruit and nuts; no berries or seeds could be found. Leaf
coverings were no protection against bitter winds and freezing snow. Branches did not keep out the
cold. Prometheus heard a great howling from his humans. One of them lay dead upon the ground;
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others were so weak they could no longer stand. They felt terrible pain and fear as they tried to
understand these new things.

Prometheus’ heart was breaking. He went at once to Zeus to beg him to relent and allow the human
beings fire. Zeus refused. When Prometheus argued that all the humans would die, Zeus replied: “So
7 be it. Death is a necessary difference between human and god.”

Deep within the centre of the earth, Zeus’ fire was guarded by a huge and terrifying three headed
dog. Determined to save his humans, Prometheus devised a clever plan to trick this monster and to
8 steal a spark of fire. Before Zeus was aware of this disobedience, Prometheus had brought the vital
spark to the humans and now they were warming themselves by the golden flames of a wonderful
fire.

Fire saved the humans and brought many changes. Zeus was enraged. He decided to punish
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Prometheus.

Two gods, seized Prometheus and carried him off to a wild and lonely range of mountains. With
10 chains of iron they fastened him at the highest point. Then they left him exposed and alone and
unable to move. Prometheus lay and waited. Night came. Stars filled the sky, bright at first until the
first rays of the rising sun began to outshine them. But then it seemed as if night had returned, for a
great darkness fell over Prometheus. A giant bird swooped down and perched upon him. Into his soft
flesh it dug its huge talons and with its great curved beak it tore his stomach open and ripped out his
liver. Prometheus’ cry sent echoes round all the mountain tops and where the humans cooked their
food and warmed their bodies the earth shook a little. Night returned. Prometheus’ liver grew back
and his wound healed. The sun began to show itself above the horizon. A dark shape loomed in the
sky. The giant bird swooped down again on to Prometheus.

This was Prometheus’ punishment: the bird would return day after day and so it would continue for
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all time. Zeus watched and ……….

sighed.
3.1 The story finishes with the words: Zeus watched and ….” What else did Zeus do?
3.2 In groups discuss:
1) What do you think of Zeus’s action of bringing the mud made by Prometheus to life? Is he a
kind god or a tyrant?
2) Why did Zeus not want the humans to have fire?
3) Do you think that the punishment was appropriate for what Prometheus had done?
3.3 What changes did fire bring for the human beings, do you think? What did fire enable them to
do? Draw pictures to show your thinking. Share your pictures with another group and decide
which were the three biggest changes.

4. Choose one of the two tasks to finish in group work.

1) The story gives no details about how Prometheus stole the fire. In groups write your own
version of what might have happened to insert into the story.
2)If you were one of the human beings in this story, what would you do after Prometheus was
fastened? Work in groups and write a little story at least 100 words.

5.1 Highlight all the verbs which are presented by simple past tense, and then classify them into two
categories: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Discuss why you think this particular tense is used
so extensively in this text?
5.2 At home: find other stories. Do they also mainly use the simple past tense?
5.3 Look at the picture and paragraph 10. Find as many similarities and differences between them as
you can. Highlight the relevant words, phrases or expressions to support your findings.
5.4 Find as many examples of repetition as you can. What do you think is the effect of the repetition?
5.5 For home study: Can you think of and find other texts which use repetition. Is it used for the same
purposes?

6. Based on what you have learned from 5.1-5.4, revise your stories you have already finished from
4.