Which figure angered Zeus by giving fire to humans?

• A. Hermes
• B. Epimetheus
• C. Zeus
• D. Prometheus

Answer: (D)

Giving fire to humans is a bold act of defiance that empowers people and shifts the balance of power between the gods and mortals. Prometheus, sensing humanity’s potential, steals fire from the gods and passes it to people, enabling cooking, crafts, and progress that Zeus wants to keep under divine control. That direct defiance to Zeus’s authority is why Prometheus is the figure who angered him; the punishment—binding to a rock with an eagle devouring his liver daily—dramatically underscores the price of challenging the gods. Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, is linked to other myths, such as giving gifts to creatures or Pandora’s box, but not to the act of giving fire. Hermes is involved in various tales too, but not the one where fire is granted to humanity.