ABSTRACT
The fear of what human beings might do with energy is evident in some of the most ancient literature that has come down to us, in Greek myth and Hebrew prophecy. Fire is destructive but also stimulates civilization, agriculture and progress, the arts and sciences. Prometheus, in an act of daring for which he is grievously punished, steals fire from the forge of Hephaestus, blacksmith of the gods, and gives it to human beings. The Bible, especially the prophets, is similarly wary of the uses of fire and iron technology. In literature, Milton and Blake express awe at the use and abuse of energy. Literature, even when little concerned with religion, often attacks the uses of new technology to serve greed and the lust for power: for example in Zola’s Germinal, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, and Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.
