Prometeo e la téchne: ovvero, le logiche del genio

This essay considers the myth of Prometheus as a symbol of creative genius, with reference to the modern and contemporary age, and it investigates the consequences of such a metaphorical assumption. At the beginning of the modern age the artist was at times likened to a «just Prometheus under Jove», but in the following centuries some critics have pointed out the ambiguity of the figure of Prometheus in moral and practical terms: Marcuse, to mention one, sees him as the symbolic origin of the unhappiness and alienation of contemporary man. In fact, this mythical figure embodies both those ancestral characters (deceiver/liberator) and it offers an original point of view – regardless of stereotypes and commonplaces – to survey aspects generally related to the dynamics of creativity and to the duties and responsibilities of the genius.