InGreek mythology,Epimetheus (/ɛpɪˈmiːθiəs/ⓘ;Ancient Greek:Ἐπιμηθεύς,lit. 'afterthought')[1] is the brother ofPrometheus, the pair serving "as representatives of mankind".[2] Both sons of theTitanIapetus,[3] while Prometheus ("foresight") is ingeniously clever, Epimetheus ("hindsight") is inept and foolish. In some accounts of the myth, Epimetheus unleashes the unforeseen troubles inPandora's box.
According toPlato's use of the old myth in hisProtagoras (320d–322a), the two Titan brothers were entrusted with distributing the traits among the newly created animals. Epimetheus was responsible for giving a positive trait to every animal, but when it was time to give man a positive trait, lackingforesight he found that there was nothing left.[4]Prometheus decided that humankind's attributes would be the civilising arts and fire, which he stole fromAthena andHephaestus. Prometheus later stood trial for his crime. In the context of Plato's dialogue, "Epimetheus, the being in whom thought follows production, represents nature in the sense of materialism, according to which thought comes later than thoughtless bodies and their thoughtless motions."[5]
According toHesiod, who related the tale twice (Theogony, 527ff;Works and Days 57ff), Epimetheus was the one who accepted the gift ofPandora from the gods. Their marriage may be inferred (and was by later authors), but it is not made explicit in either text. In later myths, the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora wasPyrrha, who marriedDeucalion, a descendant of Prometheus. Together they are the only two humans who survived thedeluge.[6] In some accounts, Epimetheus had another daughter, Metameleia, whose name means "regret of what has occurred" for those that do not plan ahead will only feel sorrow when calamity strikes.[7] According to ascholion (marginal comment) onApollonius of Rhodes'sArgonautica,Eumelos states that Epimetheus's wife was calledEphyra, daughter ofOceanus andTethys.[8] In the fifth ofPindar'sPythian Odes, he is called the father ofProphasis.[9]
In his seminal bookPsychological Types, in Chapter X, "General description of the types",Carl Jung uses the image of Epimetheus (with direct reference toCarl Spitteler's Epimetheus) to refer to the false application of a mental function, as opposed to its whole, healthy, and creative use.[10]
^Although usually the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, as inHesiod,Theogony371–374, in theHomeric Hymn to Hermes (4),99–100, Selene is instead made the daughter of Pallas the son of Megamedes.
Hard, Robin,The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004.ISBN978-0-415-18636-0.Google Books.
