8. Other Christian Symbolism
I left the standard Christian symbolism that's shown in the movie until last. The reason is that this symbolism isn't so much carefully spoonfed to the audience as facehugged down your throat... so I didnt want to spend much time on it. At the most basic Prometheus mirrors many events from the New Testament... we have elements of: the Annunciation (David telling Shaw she will bear a child), a virgin birth, and of course its Christmas Day... Subtle! There's also Shaw's obsession with her cross and Captain Janek playing the Christmas carol Oh Come All Ye Faithful (replete with lots of relevant Prometheus imagery such as "lo he abhors not the Virgin's womb...").
CONCLUSION
Prometheus weaves its narrative thread from a disparate collection of ancient myths and legends. At its heart the movie is about the dynamics between the creator and the created, and serves as a metaphorical cautionary tale about the dangers of dabbling with that which is not understood, and as a parable that creation, progression and knowledge is unalterably linked to destruction and sacrifice. And so there you have it! The mythological and literary motifs that form the underbelly of
Prometheus. Please feel free to comment below if you have an opinion or would like to discuss anything in further detail. As I said, this list is by no means exhaustive, and there are connections to contemporary literature (
His Dark Materials, anyone?) and other myths (Hindu for example) that I have not discussed here that I am happy to talk about below.
You can read PART 1 of this series HERE.You can read PART 3 of this series HERE.Follow me on Twitter: @BenjiTaylorWins