The trick at Mecone or Mekone was an event in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

first attested by

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet ...

in which

Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...

tricked

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

for mankind's benefit, and thus incurred his wrath. It is unusual among Greek myths for being

etiological Etiology (pronounced ; alternatively: aetiology or ætiology) is the study of causation or origination. The word is derived from the Greek (''aitiología'') "giving a reason for" (, ''aitía'', "cause"); and ('' -logía''). More completely, e ...

, i.e. explaining the origins of an object or custom. 'Mecone' or 'Mekone' was identified in Classical times with Sicyon, though it is unknown if Hesiod recognized this identification.

The story

The story survives only in

's ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...

'', with the exception of a brief reference to it in the works of

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

. The

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater ...

and mortal humans had arranged a meeting at Mecone where the matter of division of sacrifice between gods and men was to be settled.

slew a large ox, and divided it into two piles. In one pile he put all the meat and most of the fat, skillfully covering it with the ox's grotesque stomach, while in the other pile, he dressed up the bones artfully with shining fat. Prometheus then invited Zeus to choose; Zeus chose the pile of bones. Hesiod describes Zeus as having seen through the trick, realizing that in purposefully getting tricked he would have an excuse to vent his anger on mortal humans. It may be, however, that in mainstream versions of the story Zeus was actually deceived, and that Hesiod is trying to be pious by changing the story to make Zeus look better. As an act of revenge, Zeus hid fire from humankind, leaving them cold and shivering at night. Prometheus, however, out of pity stole it for them shortly after, incurring the further wrath of Zeus. Prometheus's punishment was to be chained to a rock and have an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

(or a

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

by some variants) pick out his liver every day for eons, until

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

slew the eagle, releasing Prometheus from his affliction. The ''Theogony'' text is ambiguous about whether Prometheus was freed or remained chained to the rock, but lines 615-616 are usually interpreted as indicating that he remained bound.

Interpretations

The story gives a mythological explanation ( etiology) of the practice of sacrificing only the bones to the gods, while humans get to keep the edible meat and fat. It is also the first sacrifice to the gods, and sets the precedent for humans establishing or renewing a covenant with sacrifice.

References

, ''

'' 510-616 {{reflist Greek mythology Prometheus Zeus