Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 250 ff (trans. WeirSmyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :\"Prometheus : Yes, I caused mortals to cease foreseeingtheir doom (moros).f Chorus : Of what sort was the curethat you found for this affliction?Prometheus : I caused blind hopes (elpides) to dwellwithin their breasts.Chorus : A great benefit was this you gave to mortals.\"[N.B. This is presumably a reference to Pandora's jar, acurse concocted by Zeus to punish mankind for the theftof fire. Prometheus seems to be saying that he was theone who stayed Hope inside the jar, when the other evilsescaped.]Aeschylus, Fragment 204 (from Proclus, Commentary onHesiod’s Works and Days 156) :\"A mortal woman from out a seed moulded of clay [i.ePandora].\"Sophocles, Pandora (lost play) (C5th B.C.) :Sophocles wrote a Satyr-play entitled Pandora orSphyrocopi which dramatised the story of the firstwoman. Plato, Protagoras 320c - 322a (trans. Lamb)
(Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :\"Prometheus stole the mechanical arts of Hephaistosand Athene, and fire with them (they could neither havebeen acquired nor used without fire), and gave them toman . . . But Prometheus is said to have been afterwardsprosecuted for theft, owing to the blunder of Epimetheus[i.e. because he accepted Pandora from Zeus].\"Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1. 46 (trans. Aldrich)(Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :\"Prometheus had a son Deukalion, who was king of thelands round Phthia and was married to Pyrrha, thedaughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, the first womancreated by the gods.\"Euphorion of Chalcis, Fragments (trans. Page, Vol. SelectPapyri III, No. 121 (2b)) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.): \"Pandora,donor of evil (kakodôros), man’s sorrow self-imposed.\"Strabo, Geography 9. 5. 23 (trans. Jones) (Greekgeographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :\"[The region of] Thessalia. But speaking of it as a whole, Imay say that in earlier times it was called Pyrrhaia,after Pyrrha the wife of Deukalion . . . But some writers,
dividing it into two parts, say that Deukalion obtained theportion towards the south and called it Pandora after hismother [i.e. his mother-in-law], and that the other partfell to Haimon, after whom it was called Haimonia, butthat the former name was changed to Hellas, after Hellenthe son of Deukalion, and the latter to Thessalia, after theson of Haimon.\" [N.B. Pyrrha was the daughter ofPandora, and wife of Deukalion. Deukalion named parts ofthe region of Thessalia after his wife and mother-in-law.]Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 24. 7 (trans. Jones)(Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :\"On the pedestal [of the statue of Athena on theAkropolis, Athens] is the birth of Pandora in relief.Hesiod and others have sung how this Pandora was thefirst woman; before Pandora was born there was as yetno womankind.\"Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 142 (trans. Grant) (Romanmythographer C2nd A.D.) :\"Prometheus, son of Iapetus, first fashioned men fromclay. Later Vulcanus [Hephaistos], at Jove’s [Zeus']command, made a woman’s form from clay. Minerva
[Athene] gave it life, and the rest of the gods each gavecome other gift. Because of this they named herPandora. She was given in marriage to Prometheus’brother Epimetheus. Pyrrha was her daughter, and wassaid to be the first mortal born.\" Nonnus, Dionysiaca 7. 7ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :\"[Aion, Father Time, addresses Zeus :] `But, some maysay, a medicine [Hope] has been planted to makelong-suffering mortals forget their troubles, to savetheir lives. Would that Pandora had never opened theheavenly cover of that jar--she the sweet bane ofmankind!'\" o Homer, The Iliad - Greek Epic C8th B.C. o Hesiod, Theogony - Greek Epic C8th-7th B.C. o Hesiod, Works & Days - Greek Epic C8th-7th B.C. o Greek Elegaic Theognis, Fragments – Greek Elegaic C6th B.C. o Aesop, Fables - Greek Fables C6th B.C. o Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
o Aeschylus, Fragments - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.o Plato, Protagoras - Greek Philosophy C4th B.C.o Apollodorus, The Library - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.o Greek Papyri III Euphorion, Fragments - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.o Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.o Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.o Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd A.D.o Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.o Nonnos, Dionysiaca - Greek Epic C5th A.D.
Did Pandora bring trouble or transformation for women? BY SANDRA GEYER MILLER, MAWhen Pandora opened the box and released the spites,was she merely the bringer of spites or the bringer ofthe vessel of transformation of feminine energies?During my studies of goddess mythology I was struck bythe myth of Pandora and her \"box\". Here was a myth ofthe first woman that continues to haunt the image ofwomen even today. Foolish Pandora, who opened theforbidden casket and released the Spites - Old Age,Labor, Sickness, Insanity, Vice, and Passion - to spreadand cover the earth. Was she merely the bringer ofspites, the revengeful curse of Zeus, or was she as themother of life also bringer of the vessel oftransformation of feminine energies?Only examination of the Greek version of the myth withinthe larger framework of \"creation and fall\" mythicthemes, can reveal to us clues about the feminine psycheand its evolution. All of the psychological literature of thelast twenty-five years has not dispelled the cultural and
spiritual shadow that surrounds the image of woman.The two myths still prevalent today are theAdam/Eve/Serpent andPandora/Epimetheus/Prometheus stories depicting thefirst woman and the fall. In these myths the primordialimages of beauty/hag, innocence/temptation, andobedience/disobedience are developed. With the comingof woman, man's paradise is ruptured, and the duality oftime/eternity, good/evil and birth/death is begun. Muchhas been written about the Adam and Eve story, but littlehas been written about Pandora. The Greek andJudeo-Christian versions of the Eve and Pandora mythsserve to propagandize the message of the earlypatriarchy about the status of women at that time.Forthwith he made an evil thing for men as the Price offire; for the very famous Limping God formed of earththe likeness of a shy maiden as the son of Cronus willed.And the goddess bright-eyed Athene girded and clothedher with silvery raiment, and down from her head shespread with her hands a embroidered veil, a wonder tosee;
And she, Pallas Athene, put about her head lovelygarlands, flowers of new grown herbs.Also she put upon her head a crown of gold which thevery famous Limping God made himself and worked withhis own hands as a favor to Zeus his father. On it wasmuch curious work wonderful to see; for of the manycreatures which the land and sea rear up, he put mostupon it, wonderful things, like living beings with voices:and great beauty shone out from it. (Evelyn-White, 1950,pp. 120ff)Pandora is portrayed as the product of Hephaestus'craft and Zeus's guile, - Zeus's curse for the theft of fireby Prometheus. She was fashioned as a bewitchingbeauty endowed with gifts from all the gods andgoddesses.Feminists have said that women today can \"have it all\"which contains an element of truth, as Pandora means\"all gifts\", but given the requirements of the patriarchalsociety, today's Pandora can manifest only a few gifts ifshe is lucky.And as for beauty, modern day Pandora is fashioned by
the incarnate Hephaestus skilled as plastic surgeon withliposuction, face lifts, plastic implants and bodycontouring. The seductive beautification process hasbecome limited to the physical body. Instead of Pandoraas an image of the all-gifted, we have the anorexic,addicted star, princess or first lady who fight theravages of time and duality with physical escapes. Thequasi-feminist business woman who adorns herself inmen's clothing and adopts men's behavior, crashes intothe invisible corporate barrier and is dazed andperplexed. She doesn't realize that her male competitorssense that it may be Pandora with her box that isknocking on the doors of power.The ritual of the bachelor party is still prevalent today,where the groom is given one last good fling before hegoes to his doom. Professor Henry Higgins in the modernmusical, based on \"Pygmalion\", Lerner and Lowe's \"MyFair Lady\" quips....Let a woman in your life and you're plunging in a knife.Let the others of my sex tie the knot around their necks,I'd prefer a new edition of the Spanish Inquisition than to
ever let a woman in my life!.....Women are irrational,that's all there is to that. Their heads are full of cotton,hay and rags. They're nothing but exasperating,irritating, fascinating, calculating, agitating, maddening,and infuriating hags! (Lerner and Lowe, 1959, p. 112)The curse is alive today and Pandora is still the \"fatalattraction\", adorned by the fashion designers whosemodels may be anorexias in beauty's garb. Poor Pandorawas she really meant to become the projected vision ofan angular masculine twig with no bosom, no roundedhip, no fertility? What has become of her magic girdle,her crown of gold, her iridescent gown, woven by Atheneherself, the master weaver? And what of the aging cronewith Aphrodite fading who has nothing left but the blamebecause she may be deserted by her husband who goesoff with another Pandora, she is left with Rhea-coronis,the death aspect.Owning the myth of Pandora for today's woman means tobe willing to live with the knowledge of the curses andthe gifts, to be wholly conscious of the dark and the lightside of her own psyche, and to be willing to enter into the
process of transformation of the feminine as expressedwithin her and as expressed within the collective.Without fight or flight, without revenge, without sexchange or facsimile, without taking on the appearancesor mannerisms of the masculine, each woman ischallenged as never before to embrace Pandora. To getin touch with the inner Pandora is to embrace one'sseductress, insatiable curiosity, deceiving beauty,cunning Trickster, spinner and weaver, politician,creator/destroyer, daughter/mother, and virgin/whoreparts.For the hope shut up within the box is delusive Hope tokeep us hoping for a return to lost paradise. As Hillmanso aptly puts it:\"Because hope has this core of illusion it favorsrepression. By hoping for the 'status quo ante', werepress the present state of weakness and suffering andall it can bring. Postures of strength are responsible formany major complaints today - ulcers, vascular andcoronary conditions, high blood-pressure, stresssyndrome, alcoholism, highway and sport accidents,
mental breakdown. The will to fall ill, like the suicideimpulse, leads patient and physician face to face withmorbidity, which stubbornly returns in spite of all hopeto the contrary.\" (Hillman, 1976, p.158).While Hope is considered to be an inherent andinstinctual gift of optimism in humans, it has beenmisunderstood in the context of the Pandora myth. Thismisunderstanding is still with us today commemorated inthe custom of the bride's Hope Chest, filled with gifts andadornments to grace a future home.A delusional Hope is born of the Trickster archetype.Anthropologist Angeles Arrien approaches the subjectthis way: In Wokini, Olympic runner Billy Mills offers eightlies of Iktumi (the trickster or liar figure) from theLakota tradition that can jeopardize happiness or set upobstacles in a person's life. Iktumi's ancient invitation toself-deception follows:If only I were rich, then I would be happy.If only I were famous, then I would be happy.If only I could find the right person to marry, then I would
be happy.If only I had more friends, then I would be happy.If only I were more attractive, then I would be happy.If only I weren't physically handicapped in any way, then Iwould be happy.If only someone close to me hadn't died, then I could behappy.If only the world were a better place, then I would behappy.None of these illusions is true in relationship to ourhappiness and salvation. We obsessively strive at workand at home for as many of the eight illusions as wecan... things that Iktumi tells us will make us happy. Oncethese goals are attained we are often stunned to findourselves still without satisfaction, still without meaning,or still without happiness. According to Iktomi's ways,ceasing to strive for meaning and happiness allows us tobecome liberated from our own fear and falseattachments.If women can understand that the underlying power and
wholeness of the feminine is the mediatrix of life/death,consciousness/un-consciousness then they no longerwill carry the reflection of the masculine projection ofthe evil \"bringer\". In turn, the men may be forced inwardto own the feminine aspects within themselves.The new emerging mythic psychology calls for us topenetrate these inner domains and encounter the sacredimages normally hidden from view. Like shamans, andlike Orpheus and Persephane, we learn to journey to theunderworld reality and return to the waking world. Welearn to incorporate the mythic dimension within thephysical, and be the knower of both.
PandoraPandora (1861) by Pierre Loison (1816–1886)In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: Πανδώρα,derived from πᾶν, pān, i.e. \"all\" and δῶρον, dōron,i.e. \"gift\", thus \"the all-endowed\", \"the all-gifted\" or \"theall-giving\") was the first human woman created by thegods, specifically by Hephaestus and Athena on theinstructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each godhelped create her by giving her unique gifts. Zeusordered Hephaestus to mold her out of earth as part ofthe punishment of humanity for Prometheus' theft of thesecret of fire, and all the gods joined in offering her\"seductive gifts\". Her other name—inscribed against herfigure on a white-ground kylix in the British MuseumisAnesidora, \"she who sends up gifts\" (up implying \"frombelow\" within the earth).According to the myth, Pandora opened a jar (pithos), in
modern accounts sometimes mistranslated as\"Pandora's box\" (see below), releasing all the evils ofhumanity—although the particular evils, aside fromplagues and diseases, are not specified in detail byHesiod—leaving only Hope inside once she had closed itagainThe Pandora myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing thequestion of why there is evil in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora
Pandora's Box - origins What type of myth is this?ZeusZeus wishes to punish mankindPandora ’s Box is an origin myth – the attempt to explainthe beginning of something.People have always wanted to know why things happen inthe world the way they do. Before there was muchscience, they did not have much understanding of howthe world works, but they still wanted to know, just asmuch as we do. Human curiosity always asks why .. andthen human creativity finds ways of giving an answer.
There are many myths, across all cultures, whichattempt to explain the beginnings of human beings andwhy there are evil things like disease, hate and war inthe world. In many stories, these evils are releasedbecause humans disobey gods.You may like to compare the story of Pandora with thestory of Adam and Eve. Do you know any other similarstories from other cultures?Are there other versions of the story?
Pandora CreationThe story of Pandora and her box comes from AncientGreece and is very old. Because of this, there areseveral versions of the myth.In Greek mythology, Pandora (meaning ‘all-giving’) wasthe first woman on earth. Before humans there were theimmortals (the Gods and Titans). The brothers,Prometheus and Epimetheus were Titans (Giant people)who had fought on the Gods’ side in a war. Some say theywere cousins of Zeus, king of the gods; he askedPrometheus to create man out of clay and water (inmany versions Hephaestus helps in this). Epimetheus hadto create the animals and give them their gifts ofcourage, swiftness etc. He gave out all the gifts and hadnone left for Man. So Prometheus decides to make manstand upright, like the gods, and give them fire (whichZeus did not want them to have – some say he had
removed it as a punishment). So Prometheus stole fire –some say from Zeus’ lightning, others from the sun andyet others from Hephaestus’ forge.Most agree that Zeus asked Hephaestus to make Pandora(the first woman) also out of earth and water, and heintended her to be a punishment. Each god and goddessgave Pandora a gift (talent), of beauty, charm, music etcbut also others, like curiosity and persuasion – gifts thatcould be used for good or ill.Then Pandora was given a container – in the originalGreek stories it was a jar and did not become a box untilthe Sixteenth century AD. A scholar called Erasmus, wholived in Rotterdam in Holland, translated a story ofPandora from Hesiod’s work. Hesiod was a Greek poetwho lived about 700BC. Erasmus was translating theGreek into Latin (which scholars did all their writing in, inthose days) and translated the Greek word ‘pithos’meaning jar into the Latin word ‘pyxis’ meaning box. Anda box it has stayed to this day!
How did the myth arise?Pandora's JarOriginally a Jar?It arose as a way of explaining why dreadful thingshappened, such as people getting sick and dying.As in many origin myths, man had lived in a world withoutworry – until this jar / box was opened, which contained
ills for mankind. Zeus knew that Pandora’s curiositywould mean that she could not stop herself from openingit, especially when he had told her that she must not doso!Many other myths also explain the ills of the world bysaying they are caused by human disobedience of a god’sinstructions.(Though some versions of this story say that the box wasa real gift and the box held good things for mankind,which Pandora let escape from the box, and fly awayforever, only catching Hope.)Even Hope itself has been argued about by scholars – noteveryone agreeing that it is a great good – that maybeZeus meant it as an evil also – otherwise it would nothave been in a jar of evil. Others believe that Zeus mayhave relented a little, and put Hope in to help mankindthrough the hard times that the other ‘gifts’ would bring.What does it mean to us today?
Pandora's BoxToday, Pandora’s box means a source of troubles. Whenwe talk about opening Pandora’s box, we use it as ametaphor to mean that we may not know what we aregetting ourselves into! Sometimes, that we do not alwaysknow how something we have started may end, that wedo not know the consequences of our actions. Pandora Definitionby Mark Cartwrightpublished on 27 July 2015 Pandora (LawrenceAlma-Tadema)
Pandora is a figure from Greek mythology who was notonly the first woman, but --as an instrument of the wrathof Zeus-- was held responsible for releasing the ills ofhumanity into the world. Pandora was also an unrelatedearth goddess in the early Greek pantheon.PANDORA - AN INSTRUMENT OF PUNISHMENTThe name Pandora means \"gifts\" and \"all\". According to(and perhaps even invented by) Hesiod in his Theogonyand Works & Days, Zeus had Hephaistos make Pandora,the first woman, from earth and water. Zeus’ intentionwas to use the beautiful and lovely Pandora as a meansto punish Prometheus who had stolen fire from the godsand given it to mankind, who would in turn be punished.Zeus promises:Son of Iapetus [Prometheus], you who know counselsbeyond all others, you are pleased that you have stolenfire and beguiled my mind – a great grief for youyourself, and for men to come. To them I shall give in
exchange for fire an evil in which they may all takepleasure in their spirit, embracing their own evil. (Works& Days, 54-59)PANDORA’S DIVINE GIFTSBefore her departure, Pandora was given a range ofdivine gifts by each of the Olympian gods. Athena taughther all the fine crafts and dressed her in silvery robes,Aphrodite gave her grace and the means to createburning desire, and Hermes gave her \"a dog’s mind and athievish character\" and in her breast \"set lies andguileful words\" (Works & Days, 67-68, 77-78). If thatwas not enough, she was adorned with fine jewellery bythe Graces, crowned with a magnificent golden headbandmade by Hephaistos, and given garlands of springflowers by the Seasons. Finally, Pandora was given alarge storage jar to take down to earth which she wastold she must never open under any circumstances.FULFILLING HER DESTINY, CURIOSITY GOT THE BETTER OF
PANDORA AND SHE LIFTED THE LID OF THE STORAGE JARWHICH RELEASED ALL THE EVILS OF THE WORLD.PANDORA'S BOX: THE EVILS OF THE WORLDPandora, guided by Hermes, was sent to Epimetheus, thebrother of Prometheus. Foolishly forgetting his brother’sadvice never to accept a gift from the gods, the beautifulPandora was made welcome in Epimetheus’ home and thetwo married, having a daughter, Pyrrha. One day, andfulfilling her destiny, curiosity got the better of Pandoraand she lifted the lid of the storage jar which released allthe evils of the world. These terrible things includeddisease, war, vice, toil, and the necessity to work forsustenance.Pandora, realising her mistake, quickly replaced the lidbut it was too late and only one thing remained inside,caught in the edge of the jar’s lip --Hope-- so thathumanity might somehow bear its sudden and eternalmisfortune.
\"Hope\" is the traditional translation from the Greek butactually may be better represented by \"anticipation\"which includes an expectation of both good and badevents. Through this punishment Zeus thus compensatedfor the theft of fire and restored the eternal divisionbetween gods and humans.
PANDORA IN ARTA relief frieze showing the birth of Pandora appeared on
the statue base of the gigantic Athena Parthenos byPheidias which stood inside the Parthenon. According toPliny the scene included 20 gods looking on. Pandoraappears too on a few Attic vases in scenes probablyinspired by the now lost satyr play Pandora bySophocles.In one 5th century BCE red-figure krater, now in theAshmolean Museum Oxford, Pandora emerges from theground, symbolizing her origin from clay. In such sceneseither Epimetheus or satyrs hold mallets but thesignificance of these has, unfortunately, been lost andthey once more illustrate the richness of Greekmythology beyond the surviving literary sources.http://www.ancient.eu/Pandora/
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