“Now we come to ol’ Prometheus. You probably remember his story, pissed off Zeus, chained to a big rock, eagle pecking out his liver, yada yada. Well, after Heracles came through, we had an unemployed titan wandering around for a while, so the Boss put him to work.”
Virgil indicated the big guy struggling against the weight of a titanic (literally) chain that his massively muscled shoulders supported.
“Though this is a new attraction, Boss says that Prometheus suffers from a classic Barnum problem—‘there’s a new one born every minute.’ Prometheus is the anchor for the Chain of Fools.”
100 words. Inspired by this week’s Friday Fictioneers prompt:
ParkInkSpot 
This story told itself. I love it when they do that. But Dante and Greek mythology and P. T. Barnum and Aretha Franklin all mixed together, it’s a witch’s brew of referents.
Dear Dave,
That’s quite a brew.
Shalom,
Rochelle
When you shake up a trivia-filled head, random bits sometimes spill out.
Poor guy, he’s not having much luck in life, is he?
Meh, he’s an immortal, plenty of time for things to get better.
Ah, the old work smarter adage. And don’t forget the words of WC Fields, “Never give a sucker an even break.”
Suckered Atlas into holding up the sky. Suckered Prometheus into supporting fools. Titans need a good legal advocate!
Unique take on the prompt. I imagine they could sell tickets to this side show.
Cheers!
MG
The inferno as an amusement park… Well, it’s (kind of) been done.
http://www.amazon.com/Inferno-Larry-Niven/dp/0765316765/
Great take on the prompt!
The titans aren’t having such a great day.
My goodness – so many random characters squashed together in one piece. Great job! (Fun that we both used Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools.)
Aretha’s song was the first thing that popped into my head, and the rest of the tale just poured out.
Don’t get any on your shoes!
Mythology for Dummies? Yeah! 🙂 I finally understand!
Or written by a dummy, maybe!
No, never! 🙂
This is what rappers do. Except in rhyme and with a downbeat. 😉
Hm. Well, I suppose I sampled Aretha. ::scritchyscratch::
This is excellent, Dave. That chain is just right for Prometheus. That’s pretty magical how you worked in Barnum and the rest. So imaginative!
Thanks Amy, don’t give me too much credit. Just a puzzle that I poured out of the imagination box, to find all of the pieces already fit together.
Nice take on the prompt, Virgil! A Promethean effort, even if Prometheus turns out to be some big guy from the neighborhood named Herbie.
I don’t think he will. He may turn out to be Atlas in disguise…
I tried to say something clever, but that might just add another link to poor Prometheus’ burden… Great take on the prompt, very unique.
There’s a link between humor and foolishness? Why didn’t anyone tell me?
It’s like the classics told by a hood: good piece.
I used to be a big fan of Fractured Fairy Tales… ? No hoods.
Good fun. I love this. I latched on to the song too – same story: I couldn’t get it out of my head when I saw the prompt.
Chain chain chain…
Loved your story including the props, 🙂
The problem with that prop is it just keeps growing heavier.
Bravo. Love to read the classics occasionally.
Wuthering Heights? Gone with the wind? Tales of Two Cities?
An interesting story.
And for my next trick…