What does it mean to be human? In a world ever-inundated with AI-generated “art,” one might be tempted to believe that computers can do our bidding for us. But the essence of humanity is, and always has been, our human ability to express ourselves through creative means. While AI-generated art might pass as human, it expresses nothing because it is not rooted in any lived experience. Creating art is a distinctly human endeavor. 

Only after we experience art and music are we truly human. This argument is by no means new; the idea goes back to Ancient Greece. In Greek myth, Prometheus snatches fire from the Olympians, bestowing it upon mankind and thus enlightening mortal savages. Greek mythology had made a serious comeback in Romantic circles; the drama, symbolism, and violence (Prometheus is doomed to have his liver pecked out in perpetuity as punishment) were perfect fodder for dramas thousands of years later. In 1800, Salvatore Viganò worked out a libretto for his Prometheus ballet, but deemed the subject matter too important for his own novice compositional skills. He requested Ludwig van Beethoven write the music; this would become Beethoven’s only ballet. 

Like lightning, Beethoven’s score opens with surges of orchestral energy. The crackling orchestral chords lead us to a pastoral introduction which then floats gently from the ensemble. Suddenly, a spirited bout of strings races ahead. This excitement is often described as Prometheus fleeing from the Gods, having stolen their otherworldly fire. Prometheus absconds triumphantly, passing this fire to the mortals so that they might see art and hear music, gaining true enlightenment. 

Eighteen years later, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein (Or, the Modern Prometheus). The ballet is a straightforward retelling of the titular Greek myth, whereas the Gothic novel is Shelley’s variant in which she dissects the creation of man. At their core, both stories ruminate on what it means to be human. What separates a monster from the Gods? Beethoven’s “monster” is the mythical original: an unruly, savage mankind who is saved by Prometheus. In Shelley, the monster is a literal walking corpse, alive against its will and forced to live without being given the enlightening fire. Her monster must learn what it means to be human, and eventually hears music and learns to speak. Shelley compares the human voice to music, indicating she, too, considers music as central to the human experience. Drawing from the Greek myth, both Beethoven and Shelley affirm that to be enlightened, one must experience and create.