Art, obsession, and identity
Epimetheus had been warned by Prometheus not to accept anything from the gods, including Pandora. But her beauty proved captivating and Epimetheus quickly took her hand.
We are told this by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod in his c. 700 BCE poem 'Work and Days.'
In 'Work and Days,' Hesiod writes that Prometheus defied the gods by stealing fire from them and bestowing it to humanity.
Enraged by the actions of Prometheus, Zeus, the king of the gods (and who was identical to the Roman god Jupiter) commissioned Hephaestus, the divine smith and patron of craftsmen, to fashion a woman out of earth.
Hesiod writes that Zeus, still seeking revenge on Prometheus, spitefully presented Pandora to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus.
Hephaestus obliged. According to Hesiod, each of the gods presented the woman with a gift, a deed that gave the woman her name—Pandora. Her name in Greek means "the one who bears all gifts."
Pandora is beautiful, the woman's elegant allure, grace, and desire afforded her by Aphrodite. But Hermes, the messenger god, bestows on her a cunning, deceitful, and curious mind, plus a crafty tongue.
Hesiod reminds us in his poem that one of the gifts Pandora had been given was a closed jar, and that she was emphatically told not to open it. The jar is in fact a pithos, a large vessel for storing wine (it was only in the 16th century during the Renaissance that the jar started to be referred to as a box) .
Pandora is redeemed by the fact that the spirit of Hope, personified by the goddess Elpis, remained alone in the box, Pandora having slammed the lid shut before she could escape.
So, who exactly opened Pandora's box? Again, this depends on what version of the story you read, or believe. In this illustration, it's clearly Epimetheus lifting the lid.
Here, Pandora herself is hoisting the cover above her head, much to the horror of Epimetheus.
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first mortal woman created.
From the outset, Pandora was overwhelmed by curiosity. What was in the box? Hesiod doesn't mention whether the jar was locked, but in some versions of the story it's Epimetheus that has the key to unlock the lid of the vessel.
So, what was inside Pandora's box, and why did even Zeus himself warn against revealing the contents?
Jars and urns full of bad things figure prominently in Greek mythology. One of the earliest references to these vessels of misfortune can be found in Homer's Iliad.
Confusingly for anyone trying to get a grip on Pandora's box, the Iliad, written by the Greek poet in the 8th century BCE, alludes to two urns, "one filled with evil gifts, and the other with good ones." Homer, it seems, is not describing Pandora's box. In the 6th century and 100 years after Hesiod, Greek poet Theognis of Megara writes of just one jar containing blessings rather than evils. Could this be it?
By the Renaissance, when the jar became a box through the mistranslation of the Greek language, poets spoke of blessings that would have been preserved for the human race had they not been lost by the vessel being opened.
In some versions of the myth, Hope does escape the box. By doing so, the question as to why evil exists in the world is answered. All is lost.
Furthermore, mythology tends to point the finger of blame firmly at Pandora and not Epimetheus.
By it getting the better of her, Pandora's curiosity led to the box being opened and the release of a tide of trouble and woe.
In fact, by not keeping a lid on things, so to speak, Pandora liberated sorrow, disease, vice, violence, greed, madness, old age, and death.
In a word, life's misery escaped its prison to plague and curse humankind forever.
Pandora's box is symbolic of how all things have consequences. Curiosity can result in disaster. Self-control is therefore a virtue.
To open Pandora's box today refers to a source of endless complications or trouble arising from a single, simple miscalculation—an action that has unforeseen negative ramifications.
That said, the story of Pandora's box also reminds us that curiosity is an asset when applied to learning new things.
The moral of Pandora's box, therefore, is that unchecked curiosity and disobedience can be dangerous, but hope remains.
Sources: (ThoughtCo) (Britannica) (National Gallery of Art)
See also: Curious facts about ancient Greece
The Pandora story has often been viewed as the origin of a perceived Greek misogyny because it attributes the provenance of evil in the universe to the existence of a woman. Pictured is a 5th-century BCE Athenian wine-mixing vessel depicting the birth of Pandora, with Zeus, Hermes, and Epimetheus all present.
Fortunately, as the ills of the world were spilled, Pandora's success in closing the box before the spirit of Hope escaped means that desire, expectation, and optimism still prevail throughout the world.
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology that belonged to the first mortal woman on Earth. Or so the story goes. First revealed in a poem written in 700 BCE, Pandora's box is all about jealous gods releasing the evils of humanity and blaming a woman for doing so. Or was a man responsible for liberating all the world's ills? The tale is complex and full of contradictions, as befitting one of the most descriptive myths of human behavior in ancient Greek folklore. But how did this unfortunate beauty come into the possession of such a malevolent vessel, and what exactly happened after it was opened?
Click through and lift the lid on the fascinating story that is Pandora's box.
Either way, when Pandora's box was opened, it did indeed put an end to earthly paradise.
What is the secret behind Pandora's box?
Would you dare open this mythological Greek artifact?
LIFESTYLE Mythology
Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology that belonged to the first mortal woman on Earth. Or so the story goes. First revealed in a poem written in 700 BCE, Pandora's box is all about jealous gods releasing the evils of humanity and blaming a woman for doing so. Or was a man responsible for liberating all the world's ills? The tale is complex and full of contradictions, as befitting one of the most descriptive myths of human behavior in ancient Greek folklore. But how did this unfortunate beauty come into the possession of such a malevolent vessel, and what exactly happened after it was opened?
Click through and lift the lid on the fascinating story that is Pandora's box.