In Greek mythology Pandora ("all-gifted") was the first woman. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create her as part of the punishment of mankind for Prometheus' theft of the secret of fire, and all the gods joined in offering her seductive gifts. Her other name, inscribed ("[ ]nesidora") against her figure on a white-ground kylix in the British Museum, is Anesidora, "she who sends up gifts". According to the myth, Pandora opened a container jar (pithos) releasing all the evils of mankind— greed, vanity, slander, envy, pining— leaving only hope inside once she had closed it again.
The myth of Pandora is very old, appears in several distinct versions, and has been interpreted in many ways. In all literary versions, however, the myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world. Hesiod, both in his Theogony (briefly, without naming Pandora outright, line 570) and in Works and Days, ca. 700 BC, has a very early told and literary version of the Pandora story. In modern times, Pandora's Box has become a metaphor for the unanticipated consequences of technical and scientific development. The evidence of the vase-painters reveals another, earlier aspect of Pandora.
The titan Epimetheus ("hindsight") was responsible for giving a positive trait to each and every animal. However, when it was time to give man a positive trait, as Prometheus, his brother, had taken much longer to create man, there was nothing left. Prometheus ("foresight"), his brother, felt that because man was superior to all other animals, man should have a gift no other animal possessed. So Prometheus set forth to steal fire from the hearth on Mount Olympus and handed it over to man.
Zeus, enraged, decided to punish Prometheus by chaining him in unbreakable fetters and set an eagle over him to eat his liver each day. The eagle is Zeus's sacred creature. Prometheus was an immortal titan, so the liver grew back every day, but he was still tormented daily from the pain, until he was freed by Heracles during The Twelve Labors. Another possible reason for Prometheus' torment was because he knew which of Zeus' lovers would bear a child who would eventually overthrow Zeus. Zeus commanded that Prometheus reveal the name of the mother, but Prometheus refused, instead choosing to suffer the punishment.
However, Zeus also had to punish mankind. The punishment was woman. More specifically, Pandora, her name meaning 'all gifts' (Though, it is believed by some that she was once known as Anesidora). Pandora was given several traits from the different gods: Hephaestus molded her out of clay and gave her form; Athena clothed her and the Charites adorned her with necklaces made by Hephaestus; Aphrodite gave her beauty; Apollo gave her musical talent and a gift for healing; Demeter taught her to tend to a garden; Poseidon gave her a pearl necklace and the ability to never drown; Hera gave her curiosity; Hermes gave her cunning, boldness, and charm.[citation needed] Zeus gave her insatiable curiosity and mischievousness. Thus the name Pandora—"all gifts"—in Hesiod's version derives from the fact that she received gifts from all deities.
The most significant of these gifts, however, was a pithos or storage jar,[2] given to Pandora either by Hermes or Zeus. Before he was chained to the rock, Prometheus had warned Epimetheus to be wary of any gifts given by the gods. However, when Pandora arrived, he fell in love with her and married her despite the warning he had been given. Hermes told Epimetheus that Pandora was a gift to the titan from Zeus, and he warned Epimetheus not to open the jar, which was Pandora's dowry.
Until then, mankind lived life in a paradise without worry. Epimetheus told Pandora never to open the jar she had received from Zeus. However, Pandora's curiosity got the better of her and she opened it, releasing all the misfortunes of mankind: "For ere this the tribes of men lived on earth remote and free from ills [kakoi] and hard toil [ponoi] and heavy sickness [nosoi argaleai] which bring the Keres [baleful spirits] upon men; for in misery men grow old quickly" (Hesiod, Works and Days). Once opened, she shut it in time to keep one thing in the jar: hope.1 The world remained extremely bleak for an unspecified interval, until Pandora chanced to revisit the box again, at which point Hope fluttered out. Thus, mankind always has hope in times of evil and misfortune.
In another, more philosophical version of the myth, hope (Elpis) is considered the worst of the potential evils, because it is equated with terrifying foreknowledge. By preventing hope from escaping the jar, Pandora in a sense saves the world from the worst damage.
The daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora was Pyrrha, who married Deucalion and was one of the two who survived the deluge.
very interested in pandora's box
so decided to read up on it
and
finally got to know the story
mankind always has hope in times of evil and misfortune.
