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Prometheus:
The Engineers (Mala'kaks)
Emergence | Prometheus
There is a fascinating parallel between the Biblical Watchers and Nephilim, and the Greek legend of the Titan Prometheus. Both stories explore themes of rebellion against divine authority and sharing of forbidden knowledge, as well as subsequent divine punishment.
Key elements of the Prometheus myth include:
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Creation of Humanity: Prometheus is often credited with shaping humans out of clay, and Athena breathed life into his creations. Prometheus loved man more than the Olympians, who had banished most of his family to Tartarus.
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Defiance: When Zeus decreed that man must sacrifice a portion of each food to the gods, Prometheus decided to trick Zeus. He created two piles, one with bones wrapped in juicy fat, and another with the finest meat hidden inside a hide. Zeus mistakenly chose the bones, and in his anger over the trick he took fire away from man. Both Prometheus and the Watchers defy the highest divine authorities—Zeus and God, respectively.
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Gift of Fire: Prometheus is most famous for stealing fire by lighting a torch from the sun and giving it to humans. Fire symbolizes knowledge, technology, and civilization. Both Prometheus and the Watchers impart forbidden knowledge to humans to help them progress. Interestingly Lucifer, the light bringer, son of the morning, is also likened to Prometheus for bringing the light of knowledge to mankind, enabling them to ascend to godhood.
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Punishment: Zeus punished Prometheus severely for his transgression. He is bound to a rock, where an eagle comes daily to eat his liver, which regenerates every night. This eternal punishment underscores the gravity of his rebellion. Prometheus’ eternal suffering and the Watchers' imprisonment both symbolize the complex relationship between suffering and enlightenment.
So Prometheus, then, is a fitting name for a movie that includes an exploration on the origins of humanity via a species known as the Engineers, or Mala'kaks (which is most likely an intentional nod to mal’akh, Hebrew for angels, or the Malakim)
Directed by Ridley Scott, the movie was originally intended to be a prequel to the 1979 sci-fi classic, Alien, but there is more than meets the eye in terms of your typical Alien movie. The movie begins with one of the Engineers landing somewhere on Earth (Dettifoss Falls in northern Iceland, if you’re geeky about the details like I am), consuming a mysterious substance, which disintegrates his body down to the DNA strands. As he plummets into the waterfall, we see the DNA reform, cells dividing and life begins to form. This is meant to represent the creation story and takes place roughly 2 billion years BC.
The premise of the movie is heavily inspired by the Ancient Astronauts theory proposed by authors such as Zacharia Sitchin, Eric Von Daniken, Robert Temple and others (read more on our Ancient Aliens page here). Central to their theories is that these extraterrestrial visitors had a profound impact on humanity by imparting knowledge of their technologies and architectural processes, and in Sitchin’s case, by genetic manipulations. Visitors were treated as gods by ancient peoples due to their technological advancements and knowledge.
According to Ridley Scott, the film's plot was inspired by Erich von Däniken's writings about ancient astronauts:
"Both NASA and the Vatican agree that it is almost mathematically impossible that we can be where we are today, without there being a little help along the way. That's what we're looking at: we are talking about gods and engineers, engineers of space. Were the Aliens designed as a form of biological warfare, or biology that would go in and clean up a planet?"
Creation through sacrifice is a core theme throughout the movie. The Engineers view the creation of life through sacrifice and death as the natural order, similar to death and rebirth cycles found in nature. Whether the Engineers created man with a benevolent purpose or not, there must have been an incident that caused them to believe it would be better to wipe the slate clean, possibly to start again.
"If the planet went wrong, they would want to
wipe it clean. But that could take 500 years.
When they revisit — because different visitors
would come back and see we're not doing so well —
they would look at these human beings that are
jerks, that are killing the planet, killing
themselves, can't settle down, they're like
a bunch of children. We should wipe it clean."
―Ridley Scott on the Engineers' methodology
Drawing of a cave painting found on the Isle of Skye
So the Engineers are creators and destroyers, seeding human life on multiple planets, and then creating the means to destroy that life should it not turn out the way they intended. David, the android played by Michael Fassbender, also adopts that god/creator mentality in Aliens: Covenant, the sequel to Prometheus. Weyland also has a strong god complex, refusing to accept his own mortality and attempting to find a way to cheat death - which he met at the hands of an Engineer.
World renowned psychiatrist and druid E. Graham Howe said: “The creative process is a losing game, with death always required at every step, as the needed price of life. 'Idea' must die into energy, as 'energy' must die into form, to make it work. So the infinite God-head THAT I AM is always dying…that we may live in finite form as the human 'me', in space and time.” His quote seems very relevant in the context of the movie.
One other interesting thing to note about Prometheus (as if alien creators were not interesting enough!) is the interplay with religion and the quest for knowledge by Elizabeth, who wears a cross throughout most of the movie. David tests her faith on numerous occasions, and while Elizabeth is not a trained soldier like women in earlier Alien movies, she has strength of faith and even gets her cross back after David removes it from her neck (saying it is contaminated). Even with her faith intact though, she chooses to pursue the path of meeting her creators, seeking out the Engineers home world rather than returning to Earth.