The myth of original sin in the garden of eden bears striking similarities to the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus. In many aspects, Satan could be considered a benefactor of man who, like Prometheus, seeks to expose the arrogance of the gods by giving mere "mortals" the gift of intellect and free will. Rather tellingly, the angelic name of Satan is "LUCIFER" from the latin meaning "bearer of light":
From Wikpedia:
The Prometheus myth bears striking similarities to the Adamic myth of the fall of man. The Promethean fire and the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge can be considered semiotic synonyms; there are clear links between Pandora and Eve. In fact the euphemistic name for Satan's former angelic form, Lucifer -- actually, a Latin name for the planet Venus -- literally means "light bearer," which seems to hint at the image of Prometheus carrying the divine fire down to man. Of course, Satan was not called Lucifer until St. Jerome translated the Hebrew phrase heilel ben-schahar in the Latin Vulgate - many centuries after the account of the Fall of Man was written, making a Prometheus-Lucifer/Satan connection rather unlikely.
Such a reading seems to identify Yahweh as Zeus and the serpent/Satan as the Prometheus figure. This reading is problematic for Judeo-Christian readers, since it seems to suggest that Yahweh is jealous, vengeful and keen to restrict humankind, while presenting Satan as a Prometheus-like champion of humanity. Many Satanists have accepted Prometheus as an aspect of Satan. (see the article Satanism) However, there is no actual evidence of borrowing between these two cultures. Old Testament scholarship and that of the contemporary cultures (Hittitology, Assyriology, and Egyptology) show that the beginning of Genesis is modeled more in-line with Ancient Near Eastern myth, so if there is any borrowing, it would be more likely that the Greeks borrowed from an ANE culture.
