Deucalion.
A survivor learning to begin again
Deucalion: Greek Flood Myth, Prometheus’s Son and Pyrrhasurvives a great flood with and helps renew humanity afterward. Their response to an obscure divine instruction turns the earth’s stones into the beginnings of a new people.
More than a myth.
The warning and the flood
The makes the son of , who advises him to prepare a chest and supplies when plans a flood. Deucalion and survive while the waters destroy much of the human world. Their safety depends on foresight, continuing a family theme associated with Prometheus.
How the stones become people
In , the survivors consult and receive an instruction to cast their great mother’s bones behind them. reasons that their mother is Earth and her bones are stones. The stones thrown by him become men, while those thrown by become women. Understanding a difficult utterance makes action possible.
A Greek account of renewal
Ancient flood stories share broad themes, but this account has its own people, gods, places, and methods of renewal. Even Greek sources differ in the mountain where the survivors land and how the divine instructions arrive. Reading the named version prevents the familiar outline from replacing its particular details.
Questions about Deucalion
Who survived the Greek flood?
and are the central surviving couple in these accounts. Their actions after the waters recede explain a renewal of human life.
Who is Deucalion’s father?
in the . The advice he supplies helps his son prepare for the disaster.
It’s a family affair.
The stories of Deucalion.
Ancient voices.
Enduring stories.
Myths have many tellings. These are the ancient works behind this profile, linked to freely available English translations.
Library
Book 1.7.2
Metamorphoses
Book 1.313–415