Walter and Prometheus’ Actions, Ambitions, and Punishments What would you do to save the people you love? In Greek mythology, Prometheus—a titan— steals fire from the gods and gives it to humans presenting that he cares about others and is willing to risk himself for what he believes. Often, Greek mythology reflects human attributes and ideals, creating stories that resurface repeatedly. Ovid's Metamorphosis tells a tale of two lovers forbidden to wed. The same story is rewritten in the “most famous love story”, Romeo and Juliet. A Raisin in the Sun, the play by Lorraine Hansberry, can be presented as a retelling of the Greek myth of Prometheus. In the play, Lorraine Hansberry presents the character of Walter Lee Younger and his ambitions, …show more content…
Prometheus is portrayed as a hero and comes to live with the consequences of his actions, while Walter's actions are seen as misguided and possibly harmful to his family. Walter explains, “Invest big, gamble big, hell, lose big if you have to, you know what I mean. It's hard to find a man on this whole Southside who understands my kind of thinking you dig?” (Hansberry 84). This quote addresses how Walter views spending and losing money. This contributes to the way that he provides for his family and the way that they decide to spend money. There are many reasons for the differences in how Walter and Prometheus are perceived in their society. Walter lives in a society that naturally thinks of him as careless or inattentive. After Walter loses money, his society depicts him as the villain in the situation. Prometheus was born into a life among Gods putting him at a higher status than many people so when he is punished for poorly thought-through actions society views the punisher in the wrong. While people are not born among gods this pattern can still be seen today as society is hierarchical and structured towards the wealthy and famous resulting in the skewed degree and processes of