Liver Trouble

Gustave Moreau / Wikimedia Commons

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Prometheus

The mythical Titan PROMETHEUS had ancient history's most famous liver problem.

According to the ancient Greeks, Prometheus angered Zeus by stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humankind. Bulfinch's Mythology describes what happened next: Zeus "had him chained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where an eagle preyed on his liver, which was renewed as fast as devoured." That's right: every day the eagle would eat his liver, and every day the liver would grow back.

For 30 long years the eagle returned each day to gnaw on fresh paté de Prometheus, until the hero Hercules arrived and slew the bird, freeing Prometheus from his doom.