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- Wikimedia Commons
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What Was Actually Inside Pandora's Box?
The myth of Pandora is one for the ages. Woman, created to punish man, accidentally releases all of the world's horrors, unleashing evil on Earth. Maybe not a bedtime story for children. But what came out of Pandora's box? Who knew exactly what was inside and what would come flying out? And who is Pandora, the enigmatic first woman, the curious creation of the gods?
Pandora's story is one told long before modern language, lending itself to a long history of lore and misinterpretation. Her myth is a moral story, a warning to heed that maybe curiosity does kill the cat.
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- F.S. Church
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
Pandora Was, According To Myth, The First Woman On Earth
When Prometheus stole fire from the gods, Zeus created Pandora as a punishment for mankind. One would think Zeus had doled out enough punishment after sentencing Prometheus to spend an eternity chained to a rock while birds pecked at his liver, but it seemed the king of the gods had more in store.
Zeus commissioned the god Hephaestus to sculpt a beautiful woman out of clay, and she was given gifts from a few gods before she was sent down to fulfill her purpose. Pandora was sent to be the wife of Epimetheus (Prometheus's brother), and only brought one thing with her: a container full of all the world's evils.
Of course, Zeus didn't tell Pandora what was inside the box - instead, he told her to never open it, and then gave the key to her husband, because when you tell someone to not do something, you put temptation as close as possible. Can you blame her for sneaking a peek?
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In Some Myths, Pandora Doesn't Have An Actual Box
Some details may have been lost in translation when it comes to Pandora's myth. The most famous part of her story, the box, may not even have been a box at all. The earliest versions of the myth involve a "sealed pottery vase."
What Pandora was given was called a "pithos," which translates roughly to "vessel." Pandora's box was more likely Pandora's jar, or Pandora's pottery vase, but those don't have quite the same ring to them.
Pandora's Downfall Was Her Insatiable Curiosity
Like any rational creature, Pandora's curiosity was piqued when she was given a secret container, told never to open it, and sent to earth to marry a stranger who held the key to this mystery vessel. Unfortunately, the temptation was just too much and it was this curiosity that unleashed all the world's evils.
Pandora Let All The World's Evils Out Of Her Box — But Left Hope Locked Inside
The list of items released from Pandora's box are a handful: illness, worry, crime, hate, envy... basically any bad thing you could think of. They flew out of the box like little bugs, and Pandora tried to shut it back up as quickly as she could. She did, according to some of the versions of her myth, manage to trap one important thing inside: hope.
It is disputed why Zeus would even put hope in a vessel of evils. One rationale is that Zeus wasn't the worst, and snuck hope in there as some sort of nicety in the midst of all the other horrors. Another is that Zeus meant for hope to remain in the box, to make the people suffer even more, and make them understand why they should never cross him again.
- Photo:
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
Her Name Means "All-Gifts," And She Was Given Gifts By Various Gods
Despite being created solely to punish mankind, Pandora was gifted with a few nice traits by some generous gods, hence her name, "all-gifts." Aphrodite gave her femininity, Athena "taught her crafts," and Hermes taught her how to be stubborn and curious (maybe Zeus wanted her to open the mystery jar after all).
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- Photo:
- Paolo Farinati
- Wikimedia Commons
Pandora's Husband, Epimetheus, Held The Key, But She Stole It From Him As He Slept
When Zeus sent Pandora to Earth, he married her off to Prometheus's brother, Epimetheus. It seems odd that Zeus would gift a beautiful woman to the brother of someone he hated, but Pandora was supposed to be a punishment, so maybe it was part of his bigger plan. In fact, Prometheus warned his brother not to accept any gifts from the gods, but Epimetheus was too drawn in by Pandora's beauty. She was crafted by the gods, after all.
Zeus entrusted Epimetheus with the key to Pandora's box, which he refused to give to her no matter how hard she begged. So, eventually, Pandora snuck it away from him as he slept and unlocked the box herself (other versions of the myth also say Pandora simply broke the seal of the pithos).
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- Photo:
- John William Waterhouse
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
Pandora Was Once Seen As A Life-Giving Goddess, But Her Reputation Shifted
According to Ancient Origins, "Pandora was not always despised as the bringer of evil. Originally, she was seen as a life-giving goddess much like the better-known goddesses Gaea, Athena, and Demeter. Over the years, Pandora went from a revered goddess to the root of all evil, later to be conflated with other religions and immortalized in art and myth."
The most well-known version of Pandora's myth comes from Hesiod, who first wrote down the tale. However, documents older than this version (such as depictions on pottery) suggest Pandora didn't mind being the bringer of all evil, because it meant she was the bringer of fertility, since birth and death did not exist before she released them.
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- Public Domain
- Wikimedia Commons
It's Possible That Hesiod, The Man Credited With First Writing Down Pandora's Myth, Knew He Was Shifting Power Away From Women
Hesiod is credited with being the first to write down Pandora's myth. Unfortunately, the result of the myth is more than just a small dose of sexism: woman is a punishment to man, and unleashes all evil on Earth. Ancient Origins speculates that Hesiod was aware of the stereotype of woman he was perpetuating. Some say he had no awareness that Pandora was once a revered goddess; others say he knew perfectly well what he was doing, and how he was twisting her story. Ancient Origins writes:
"It has also been suggested that Hesiod was aware of a shift in power in his time from matriarchy to patriarchy and this was his way of explaining the female fall from power. In later art, Pandora is seen as the anti-Athena, from opposite sides they reinforced the ideologies of the patriarchy and the highly gendered socio-political realities of 5th century BC Athens. Athena rose above her gender in order to defend it, whereas Pandora embodied the need for male control."
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- Photo:
- Jean Alaux
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public Domain
Like Many Ancient Myths, Pandora's Story Was Used As A Moral Explanation For Evil In The World
Pandora's myth probably first surfaced as the answer to the age-old question: why do people get sick and die? Why do bad things happen? Why do the gods allow it?
Ironically, Pandora's story arises from human curiosity, the same trait that led to the release of all the world's evils. It all comes full circle.
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