by Peter Paul Rubens (1610–1612). This disobedient god was punished by Zeus, who once led a rebellion against his own predecessors.

When Prometheus was chained to the rock, his liver eternally devoured by the eagle as punishment for giving humanity Fire, he was destined to endure those torments for eternity. And yet, after endless millennia, it was Heracles who finally freed him, piercing the eagle with an arrow, and, at that moment, the wrath of Zeus relented. Prometheus was liberated, having endured unspeakable suffering, and was honored as a great benefactor and martyr for humankind.

Humans love martyrs — those who sacrifice their own flesh for the sake of others. Perhaps Prometheus prefigured the ultimate martyrdom of the crucified Jew, another god-martyr who sacrificed himself for the human race.While martyrdom comes in different forms, there is in it a devotion to a certain “truth.” We can recall Seneca and Socrates — two noble minds who disregarded the fate of their physical being for the sake of their domesticated truths. Prometheus and the crucified Jew are considered god-martyrs in the name of humanity, but these two celebrated philosophers became human-martyrs in the name of crafted ideals (it is natural for ideals to be crafted).What separates the dignity of the first martyrs from the dignity of the latter? Where does the dignity of martyrdom itself truly lie?