It is undisputed that fire was an essential factor in the cultural and biological evolution of the human species. But how did we humans actually discover fire and what impact did this have?
According to Greek mythology, Zeus' brother Prometheus is the one who gave fire to mankind. Prometheus created humans from clay and taught them how to build houses, mix medicinal herbs, write and do maths.
After an argument with the other gods, Prometheus brought fire to earth out of spite, whereupon he was severely punished by Zeus.
So much for the legend, but there is of course also a scientifically proven explanation of how humans discovered fire.
Even if the exact circumstances of the discovery are not entirely clear, there is first evidence of fire use that is more than two million years old. Even early humans kept fires going from lightning and earth fires to protect themselves from predators. Fire brought many advantages for humans, for example food could be cooked for the first time and thus made more digestible. This in turn led to an acceleration in the development of the human brain, which in evolutionary terms gave us a great head start.
To this day, fire plays a crucial role in people's lives. Be it in the development of tools, metalworking or in agriculture, people use fire to their advantage everywhere.
Nevertheless, fire has proven time and again throughout history that it cannot be tamed and will always be stronger at the end of the day. Especially in the face of climate change, forest fires are an ever-growing threat to our planet.
The relationship between humans and fire is one of the most essential and profound in history. It stands for both survival and destruction. From prehistoric times to modern times, fire has been an essential part of everyday human life and symbolises the interaction between man and nature.
