Cortana gathered info on the Prometheans from their own data flashes, right? She says they call themselves the Prometheans. Prometheus is a character from a human myth. Who gave the name to the Prometheans?
Forerunner translation software translates phrases and expressions based on the user’s experiences and memories.
I’d guess that the Forerunner Prometheans were perhaps named after a similar character in their mythologies, for example, a person or group of people who gave “fire” to the Forerunners from a higher power.
I was going to say that perhaps it is what the ancient humans called themselves…but that is a Greek myth, and the ancient Greeks are not old enough to be the humans turned into the Prometheans.
According to the myth, Prometheus gave humans fire so maybe it is a translation of a Forerunner term meaning “Those who bring fire.”
It could quite also be due to the etymology of Prometheus’ name itself. In Greek it means “Forward thinker”, as in he always thinks ahead. As opposed to his brother Epimetheus, or “After thinker” who would think reactionary, rather than planning.
The ancient humans were posing a large threat to the Forerunners with expansion and maybe even technology. They were always thinking about where to go next, what their next step would be. Again, “Prometheans” could be a translation of the Forerunner term for “Foward Thinker”
Of course, this then suggests that the Greek language and other language is derived from whatever those ancients spoke, but this is a science-fiction/fantasy game so that doesn’t really matter too much.