Spitteler’s Prometheus, like his God, turns away from
the world, from the periphery, and gazes inwards to the
centre, the “narrow passage” of rebirth. This concentration
or introversion pipes the libido into the unconscious. The
activity of the unconscious is increased—the psyche begins to
“work” and creates a product that wants to get out of the
unconscious into consciousness. But consciousness has two
attitudes: the Promethean, which withdraws the libido from
the world, introverting without giving out, and the
Epimethean, constantly giving out and responding in a
soulless fashion, fascinated by the claims of external objects.