Prometheus (clipart)The base for Sochi Olympic Games theme will be ancient Greek myth about Prometheus – the Titan who took fire from the gods of Olympus and give it to mortals for their use, for this he was chained to Mount Fischt near Sochi. This became know after IOC allowed the three candidate cities to make their Olympic plans public.

In Wikipedia, and many other sources, you’ll read that Prometheus was chained to Mount Caucasus, but where is this mountain today? Why do they think it is Fischt Mountain, near Sochi? Here is what I found on the internet:

According to Greek mythology, Prometheus gave people everything – life, soul, trade and fire. It was because of the theft of fire from Olympus to give to man that he suffered. Zeus ordered to chain him to the Caucasus, a desert cliff at the back of beyond, in Scythia. It is very likely that this “first Golgotha” is Mount Fischt near Sochi. There is Caucasian Mountain bordering on the Phasis, once called Boreas’ Couch (Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind). After the fight of the Titans, Cronus, who was trying to escape Zeus’ threats, hid himself on the top of Boreas’ Couch, turning himself into a crocodile. When Zeus came there he tied his father down with a woollen thread and precipitated him into Tartarus, and then he… renamed the mountain to the Caucasus, chained Prometheus to the rock and made him suffer from an eagle which tore his liver to pieces ‘. (Plutarch, 1st century AD).

Plutarch goes on to tell that the Phasis is a river in Scythia… It was formerly called the Arctur because of the cold surrounding area. Archaeologists believe that at the time when myth about Argonauts was being composed the river Phasis was considered to be in the north and was identified with the Don. The most dominating peak nearest to the Phasis is Fischt. Ancient Greeks thought it was situated in Scythia. And looking at a photo from Sochi the mountain appears to be a crocodile. But the most important trait is a huge red blot that appears on the southern slope after an ancient landslide (the myth says that Prometheus blood soaked into the rocks). And severe snowstorms occur here even at the height of summer. Greeks apparently knew the famous Novorossiysk ‘bore’.

Source: sochi-international.ru

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If you have ever been to Sochi, you may have heard the story that Prometheus was chained in another place, in Sochi. But I’ll tell you this story another day :)




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