Frankenstein : The Modern Prometheus & the birth of modern Science Fiction

August 30th is Frankenstein Day, the birthday of Mary Shelley, a day to remember her and her novel Frankenstein and the impact it had on science fiction. Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of Gothic fiction and a landmark of science fiction. But what many readers may not know is how much Shelley was influenced by Greek literature and mythology when she wrote her novel. In this article, we will explore some of the connections between Frankenstein and the ancient Greek sources that inspired Mary Shelley.

The subtitle: The Modern Prometheus

The most obvious link to Greek myths is the subtitle of the novel, which refers to Prometheus, the Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Prometheus is a complex figure in Greek mythology, who is both a benefactor and a rebel, a creator and a sufferer. He is often seen as a symbol of human progress, but also of the dangers of overreaching and defying the natural order. He is also punished by Zeus for his transgression, who chains him to a rock and sends an eagle to devour his liver every day.

Shelley was familiar with different versions of the Prometheus myth, such as the one in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where Prometheus shapes the first human out of clay, and the one in Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, where Prometheus is chained to a rock and tortured by Zeus for his transgression.

Shelley saw in Prometheus a parallel to her protagonist, Victor Frankenstein, who also attempts to create life and endows it with a spark of fire (electricity). Like Prometheus, Frankenstein is motivated by a noble desire to benefit humanity, but also by a hubris that leads him to challenge the limits of nature and science. And like Prometheus, Frankenstein faces the consequences of his actions, both in his own suffering and in the havoc wreaked by his creation, the Creature.

But Prometheus is not the only Greek source that Mary Shelley drew from in her novel. She also alluded to other works of Greek literature, such as Homer’s Odyssey, Euripides’s Medea, and Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, among others. These works provide intertextual references that enrich the themes and motifs of Frankenstein, such as the quest for knowledge, the role of fate, the nature of justice, and the power of sympathy.

The myth of creation

Another aspect of Greek mythology that influenced Mary Shelley was the myth of creation, which describes how the gods and the world came into being. There are different versions of this myth, but one of the most influential was the one presented by Hesiod in his Theogony, a poem that narrates the origin and genealogy of the gods. According to Hesiod, the first being to exist was Chaos, a formless and empty void, from which emerged Gaia (Earth), Tartarus (the underworld), Eros (love), Erebus (darkness), and Nyx (night). From these primordial entities, other gods and creatures were born, such as Uranus (sky), Cronus (time), the Titans, the Cyclopes, the Giants, and the Olympians.

Shelley was fascinated by the idea of creation from chaos, and she used it as a metaphor for her own creative process. In her introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein, she writes:

Everything must have a beginning, to speak in Sanchean phrase; and that beginning must be linked to something that went before. The Hindoos give the world an elephant to support it, but they make the elephant stand upon a tortoise. Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos; the materials must, in the first place, be afforded: it can give form to dark, shapeless substances, but cannot bring into being the substance itself

Shelley also applies this concept to the creation of the creature in Frankenstein, who is assembled from various parts of corpses and animated by a mysterious spark. The creature is a product of chaos, and he represents both the potential and the danger of human creativity.

References to classical works

Shelley enriches her novel with numerous references and allusions to classical works of Greek literature, such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and Milton’s Paradise Lost, which is based on the biblical story of the fall of man, but also influenced by Greek mythology. These works provide a cultural and literary background for the novel, and also serve as a contrast between the ancient and the modern world.

Shelley uses Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, a tragedy that dramatizes the punishment of Prometheus by Zeus, to highlight the tragic fate of Frankenstein and his creature. She borrows from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a collection of myths that deal with transformations and changes, to explore the themes of identity and metamorphosis in Frankenstein.

Finally, Shelley uses Milton’s Paradise Lost, an epic poem that retells the story of the creation and the fall of man, to parallel the relationship between Frankenstein and his creature, and God and Adam. Both Frankenstein and God are creators who abandon their creations, and both the creature and Adam are innocent beings who are corrupted by their circumstances. The creature identifies with Adam, and says:

I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy for no misdeed. Everywhere I see bliss, from which I alone am irrevocably excluded. I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous

The Odyssey

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is a hero who faces many trials and dangers in his journey home after the Trojan War. He encounters monsters, sirens, witches, and gods, but also displays cunning, courage, and loyalty. Shelley compares Frankenstein to Odysseus in several passages, such as when he says:

I am chained in an eternal hell. My imagination was a mirror presenting to me a thousand forms of life, each more horrible than the preceding. I was like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead, and found a passage to life aided only by one glimmering, and seemingly ineffectual light (Chapter 24). 

This is a reference to the story of Sinbad the Sailor, who was inspired by Odysseus, and who escapes from a cave full of corpses by following a ray of light.

Medea

Medea is the sorceress who helps Jason obtain the Golden Fleece, but who later kills their children in revenge for his betrayal. Medea is a tragic figure who represents the extremes of love and hate, passion and reason, loyalty and vengeance. Shelley invokes Medea in the context of Frankenstein’s relationship with Elizabeth, his cousin and fiancée, whom he loves dearly but also fears for her safety. This is a reference to the scene in Euripides’s play where Medea kills her children in front of Jason, and then flees in a chariot drawn by dragons.

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex is the tragedy of the king who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother, fulfilling a prophecy that he tried to avoid. Oedipus is a victim of fate, but also of his own pride and ignorance. He is blind to the truth until it is too late, and then he blinds himself in horror and remorse. Shelley alludes to Oedipus in the context of Frankenstein’s discovery of the secret of life, which he later regrets.

The Birth of Modern Science Fiction

Most sources today tend to agree that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein : The Modern Prometheus was the first work of modern science fiction (after Lucian of Samosata, the Father of Science Fiction that lived from about 125-180 CE). That is why in the series Prophets of Science Fiction as you will see below, Mary Shelley is the first episode.

You might also enjoy this book available in our Amazon Affiliate shop: The Astounding Illustrated History of Science Fiction. Another good book is Brian Aldiss’s The History of Science Fiction.