Prometheus V.1.3

Read the excerpt from "Prometheus":

Prometheus was not satisfied. All that night he lay awake making plans. Then he left his couch at dawn, and standing tiptoe on Olympus, stretched his arm to the eastern horizon where the first faint flames of the sun were flickering. In his hand he held a reed filled with a dry fiber; he thrust it into the sunrise until a spark smoldered. Then he put the reed in his tunic and came down from the mountain.

What does the word "smoldered" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• burn slowly

• burn out

• covered in flames

Read the following excerpt from Prometheus

"Zeus was full of rage. He seized his largest thunderbolt. “So they want fire,” he said to himself. “I’ll give them fire—more than they can use. I’ll turn their miserable little ball of earth into a cinder.”

What does the word "cinder" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• charcoal or ashes

• water or liquid

• frozen ice

• burning flames

Read the following excerpt from Prometheus:

"He called his giant guards and had them seize Prometheus, drag him off to the Caucasus, and there bind him to a mountain peak with great chains specially forged by Hephaestus—chains which even a Titan in agony could not break.:

What does the word "forged" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• clipped or cut

• made or shaped

• designed or planned

• broke or destroyed

Read the excerpt from Prometheus:

"Many centuries he lay there—until another hero was born brave enough to defy the gods. He climbed to the peak in the Caucasus and struck the shackles from Prometheus and killed the vultures."

What does the word "defy" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• refuse to obey

• worship and obey

• destroy

• overthrow

Read the excerpt from Prometheus:

“Happy as beasts are happy,” said Prometheus. “Of what use to make a separate race called man and endow him with little fur, some wit, and a curious charm of unpredictability?

What does the word "endow" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• to make

• to purchase or buy

• to give or provide

• to abandon or leave

Read the excerpt from Prometheus:

"If you mean something by this, enlighten me with your wisdom. Tell me why you refuse to give man the gift of fire.”

What does the word "enlighten" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• to be smarter than someone else

• to cover the truth

• to set on fire

• to give more knowledge or understanding about something

Read the following excerpt from Prometheus:

"But Prometheus said, “Look at him. Look below. He crouches in caves. He is at the mercy of beast and weather. He eats his meat raw."

What does the word "crouches" mean as it is used here? (V.1.3)

• looks for food

• squat or bend over

• makes or builds

• Eats in caves