I was thinking about Prometheus the other day, and this occurred to me. I knew both of these facts, but I had never made the connection before.
Is there a chance the Greeks were aware of the regenerative capacity of the liver, or was this a coincidence? What's the significance of Prometheus having his liver eaten, anyway (as opposed to other body parts)?
Last time this question was asked, the more definitive answers were 'probably not.' Regeneration was prolific in Greek myths, and liver regeneration seems to have been definitively discovered in the 1800s.
Edit: see yazid87's comment for a more comprehensive response!
Using this thread and other sources the summary is that it is impossible to know for sure but it seems unlikely for two main reasons:
Firstly the story of Prometheus pre-dates the developments in anatomy and medicine you might associate with Ancient Greece. The first written record dates back to at least Hesiod in around 700 b.c., centuries before Herophilos and other pioneers of anatomy. At the time of Hesiod dissecting a corpse would have been very taboo and a form of religious defilement so most knowledge of human anatomy was from the battlefield. Simply put the liver was known to be important because wounds to the liver were known to be fatal. In "The Iliad" there are a number of fatal wounds to the liver, e.g. "He hurled his shining spear / and hit Apisaon, son of Phausius, /a shepherd to his people, below his diaphragm, /in the liver. His legs gave way" (chapter 11), but proper medical study of human livers had not been conducted at the time of the origin of the story.
Secondly although the story of the liver is well known, regeneration is seen in other stories from Greek mythology and not limited to any one organ. Dionysus was ripped apart at birth but regrown from his still intact heart. The Hydra killed by Heracles regenerated limbs (its heads) when one was removed. So there was no special significance place on the liver's capacity to regenerate compared to other organs.
Sources: http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/news/pubs/radiuscontents/2009/September/22_3_prometheus.pdf
I like Edith Hamilton's book for a readable breakdown of Greek mythology and the interpretations of different ancient authors, but any you'll find those stories in any reasonable compilation.
An aside: Not sure whether they were aware of the liver's regenerative abilities, but IIRC, the Greeks believed that anger originated from the liver. So the eagle could've been eating Prometheus's liver every day in order to keep him mellow and prevent revenge?