Mythology

At one time Zeus was so thoroughly disgusted with man and his impious, evil ways that he decided to annihilate the species with a deluge. Prometheus, who was still at large then, warned his son Deucalion to prepare a chest. When the rains began to fall Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha climbed into the chest, which was loaded with provisions, and they floated on the ocean that drowned the rest of the world. After ten days the flood subsided, and the chest came to rest on Mount Parnassus. When they emerged, Deucalion and Pyrrha offered a sacrifice to Zeus and asked him to restore the human race. The couple also went to Delphi and prayed to the Titaness of Justice, who told them to cast the bones of their mother behind them. At first this command mystified them, but Deucalion had an inspiration. His mother's bones must be the stones that lay upon the earth, for the earth had given birth to mankind. As Deucalion started casting stones behind him they became men, and as Pyrrha cast stones behind her they became women. In this manner the human race was reborn.