For sometime I have been pondering on how to portray Prometheus. He is a God after all. And who knows what they are? To make such a figure grounded and believable will be tricky.
Technically, I have decided to approach him as if he were me. Don't worry this is not delusions of grandeur. What I mean is, an author. In a way I am a god to the characters in the book. Like Prometheus I create them and decide there fate. Prometheus is therefore the embodiment of me in the book. He would be able to do all the things that I can in a book. Alter scenes, people, things, himself. This echos the ability gods have in myths to transform. He also knows the plot. (He's not called, forethought, for nothing)
Of course there must be limits to these powers. When a character in a book begins to get a life of its own, even the author is limited by what you can do with them, because they have there own momentum. They can even alter the expected outcome. Prometheus will also be limited by his his damaged liver and lack of energy.
Does this make sense?
As for Prometheus's character I need to do more reading I feel. However there are characteristics which are already evident to me. Arrogant, mischievous, loving, burdened, selfless. (How you can be arrogant and selfless I don't know yet he does display both traits. He wants to be the Alpha God; hence the antagonism with Zeus, But will endure incredible sacrifice for Man.)
Anyway these are my thoughts so far. More to come
4 comments:
Rich,
Not only does it make sense, but it sounds very promising. Might afford some opportunities to "break the fourth wall" (theatre-speak), if you choose to go that direction. Other writers (Italo Calvino, Chuck Pahlaniuk and Nicholson Baker spring immediately to mind) have used this to great effect, even just by dancing near the edge of direct address of the reader. Something to mull over.
To the point about Prometheus being a god, and a reflection of yourself... not at all a delusion of grandeur. The gods (Greek, in particular) were archetypes, used to demonstrate life lessons. Moreover, they were extremely flawed beings... far from the omnipotence and benevolence we typically ascribe to divine manifestations. There's a lot of room for you to move, here. Perhaps you'll even find yourself delving into Heather Clay's hubris in assuming that it's her place to rescue Prometheus. Maybe this even becomes a source of conflict between Heather and Prometheus in the second act.
Food for thought.
Be well,
Chris
Sounds great. And good to know that if you ever need a reader for this I really CAN be Metatron!
H
I appreciate your comments.
Talking to the reader is something I like to do. I have done it in my present novel, Mr Reed. But it can be problematic. Past experiments have fallen flat. That said, the various 'levels' in this may lend itself to it. However, I am conscious that this is pretty wild tale already and simplicity seems paramount to me if it is going to work. But I;m tempted...
You are right to pick up Heather's motivation. I see a lot of internal conflict for her. On one level, P is the ultimate father figure. On another, the ultimate mate. I was inteending to complicate this further by having her father die when she was young.
There is also somthing odd about the idea of a human caring for a god. It blurs so many things.
As for Metatron thats a whole new ball game!
R
This is ram jam packed with potential. Very exciting. I hope you're taking the time to be proud of yourself!
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