Pandora, the Goddess who Unleashed both Hell and Hope upon Humanity

Ancient Origins

Most people are familiar with the creation of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis. But the story of mankind’s creation in Greek mythology is probably less well-known, and is arguably darker in tone when compared to Genesis. For a start, men and women were not created at the same time. Men existed before the coming of women, and degenerated over the ages. Moreover, the creation of the first woman, Pandora, was not a gift by the gods to man, but a punishment.

 In the Greek myth of creation, as recorded in the Greek poet Hesiod’s Works and Days (8th century BC), there were five ages. The first of these was the Golden Age, where men were immortals and dwelled on Olympus. They were made of gold, and lived like gods. When this age ended, the men became good spirits that watched over mortals. The next age was the Silver Age, where men were made of silver, and still dwelled on Olympus. They were, however, no longer immortal. The following two ages were the Bronze Age and Heroic Age. In the former, men were made of bronze, whilst in the latter, the Earth was populated by the heroes of Greek mythology. Both ages were brought to an end by constant wars. The last age, which is the present one, is the Iron Age, where men toil and suffer all their lives.

The Greek Gods of Olympus. ‘The Induction of Ganymede in Olympus’ by Charles Amédée Philippe van Loo (Wikimedia Commons)

As the myths in Hesiod’s works are not arranged entirely in chronological order, it is difficult to pin down in which age of mankind Pandora was created. The story of Pandora, however, is intricately linked with that of the titan Prometheus, whose tale begins at Mekone, and may perhaps be placed sometime after the Silver Age. It was at this place that Prometheus cut up an ox and divided it into two portions. The smaller portion contained the meat of the animal wrapped up in the ox’s stomach, whilst the larger one had the animal’s bones covered by a layer of glistening fat. Prometheus succeeded in tricking the gods, as they chose the bigger portion, whilst mankind was left with the edible meat.

Enraged by Prometheus’ trickery, Zeus withheld fire from man, so that they could not cook the meat. This prompted Prometheus to steal fire from the gods, resulting in his punishment by being bound in chains, and having an eagle eat his liver, which would grow back in the night. Prometheus was eventually freed by the hero Heracles. Zeus was not contented with punishing Prometheus alone, but decided to punish mankind as well.

‘Prometheus Carrying Fire’ by Jan Cossiers (Wikimedia Commons)

The Gift of Pandora
Zeus fashioned a maiden out of earth and water, and gave her a human voice and strength. Then the gods showered her with gifts. Athena taught her the crafts, Aphrodite bestowed on her “charm about her head” as well as “painful yearning and consuming obsession”, whereas Hermes gave her “a bitch’s mind and a knavish nature”. The maiden was then dressed and adorned by the gods. As the maiden was laden with numerous gifts from the gods, she was called Pandora, literally meaning “All gift”.

Pandora was indeed a sight to behold, though a dangerous one:

 Both immortal gods and mortal men were seized with wonder then they saw that precipitous trap, more than mankind can manage. For from her is descended the female sex, a great affliction to mortals as they dwell with their husbands – no fit partners for accursed Poverty, but only for Plenty.


Pandora was then sent by Hermes to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus, as a gift. Although Prometheus had warned his brother not to accept any gift from Zeus, Epimetheus had forgotten about the warning, and took Pandora as his wife.

Pandora was a beauty to behold and when he saw her, Epimetheus forgot all the warnings about accepting a gift from Zeus (Wikimedia Commons)

Pandora and the Forbidden Box
Zeus, pleased that his trap was working, gave Pandora a wedding gift of a beautiful box. (In Hesiod’s original version, the gift was actually a ‘pithos’ or jar. It was not until the 16th century, that the word was mistranslated to mean ‘box’.) There was just one very important condition. Pandora was forbidden from opening the jar/box.

Pandora was gifted with curiosity as much as the other attributes given to her by the gods, and her mind became consumed with thoughts about what was kept inside. She could not understand why Zeus would give her a wedding gift but not allow her to see it. Eventually, she could think of nothing else but opening the box and unlocking its secrets, just what Zeus had planned.

Pandora is overcome by temptation and curiosity. ‘Pandora and The Forbidden Box’ by Walter Crane. (Wikimedia Commons)

Pandora Opens the Box
Pandora could stand it no longer. When Epimetheus left the room, Pandora finally opened the box. Out poured a stream of ghostly creatures that consisted of disease, poverty, misery, sadness, death, and all the evils of the world. Pandora slammed the lid shut, but it was too late, the whole contents had escaped except for one small thing that lay at the bottom – Hope.

‘Pandora Opens the Box’ by Walter Crane (Wikimedia Commons)

Pandora released Hope and it fluttered from the box, touching the wounds created by the evil she had unleashed. Even today, hope still remains in humanity in the darkest of times. As the British poet Alexander Pope once famously wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast”.

Featured image: ‘Pandora’ by John William Waterhouse, 1896. (Wikimedia Commons)

References
Atsma, A. J., 2011. Pandora. [Online] Available at: http://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Pandora.html

Gill, N. S., 2015. Pandora's Box. [Online] Available here. Hesiod, Theogony [West, M. L. (trans.), 1988. Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, Oxford: Oxford University Press.]

Hesiod, Works and Days [West, M. L. (trans.), 1988.

Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, Oxford: Oxford University Press.]

www.greek-gods.info, 2014. Pandora, the first woman ever created. [Online] Available at: http://www.greek-gods.info/greek-heroes/pandora/ www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com, 2015.

 The myth of Pandora’s box. [Online] Available at: http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/pandoras-box-myth/

By Ḏḥwty

Pandora: The Tale of a Good Girl Gone Bad?

Ancient Origins

When Pandora opened her box, as the Ancient Greek myth goes, all manner of evil was released into the world - ending the Golden Age of man and forsaking them to a life of death and rebirth. Being the first woman created by the gods, she was sent as a punishment. This set a very negative precedent for the women that would succeed her, and this sexism remains in modern times. However, 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.

Pandora’ by John William Waterhouse, 1896. (Public Domain)

Pandora Unleashes a Punishment for Mankind
The earliest written myth of Pandora comes from Hesiod in “Works and Days”, as well as his “Theogony” to a lesser extent. It is in these works that we see the first version of her as an ill-fated human that brought evil into the world. As the myth goes, she was the first woman created by the gods, Hephaestus and Athena at the request of Zeus. Zeus requested that she be made as a punishment to be unleashed on mankind, due to the transgressions of Prometheus, who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to man. Hephaestus molded her from the earth, just as man was created, but all of the gods gave her unique and seductive gifts - the translation of her name is “all-gifted.” 

When Pandora was delivered to mankind, she brought with her a pithos (an ancient Greek vessel), later misconstrued as a box, which contained disease, pain, and various other evils that were released to the world. However, once the box was opened and Pandora saw all the evils fly out of it, she attempted to replace the lid, leaving one thing behind - hope. Thus, ended the Golden Age of man and the Silver Age began, in which man was not subjected to death. With the introduction of women came birth, leading to the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Prometheus creating man in the presence of Athena. Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen. (CC BY 2.5)

 Pandora the Demi-Goddess
Pandora is often accompanied by the epithet “Anesidora,” meaning “she who sends up gifts” which is a variation on Pandora meaning “all-gifted.” Similarly, some have suggested that Pandora’s name does not mean “all gifted” but rather “all-giving.”

The epithet “Anesidora” was more commonly applied to the goddesses Gaea and Demeter, implying that Pandora was akin to these great goddesses rather than the bringer of evil in the world. In classical scholarship, it is generally agreed that, for female deities in particular, it is common for initial deities to be broken down to form splintered, lesser versions. This happened with the so-called “Great Goddess” who would produce goddesses with more specialized functions such as: Gaea, Demeter, Persephone, Artemis, and Hecate. Pandora also appears to be a product of this splintering. It has been suggested, from documentation that is now lost to us, that originally Pandora was an embodiment of the fertility of the earth and its capacity to bear fruits for the benefit of mankind. While it is not in the written record, it can be seen in 5th century BC pottery and therefore scholars have been working with this medium to gain a greater understanding of Pandora prior to Hesiod.

Pandora was a beauty to behold and when he saw her, Epimetheus forgot all the warnings about accepting a gift from Zeus. ‘Pandora,’ Jules Joseph Lefebvre. (Public Domain)

Hesiod’s Socio-Political Role for Pandora
Over time, this image of Pandora as an all giving goddess devolved into the “all-gifted” version of herself that we all know today. A commentary on Hesiod’s works argues that Hesiod shows no awareness of the previous mythology surrounding Pandora in her role of a life-bringing goddess. However, other authorities on the subject argue quite the opposite, that Hesiod was aware of these previous myths and intentionally subverted them in favor of a more patriarchal view. In this sense, it is argued that the myth of Pandora is not a genuine myth but rather an anti-feminist fable of Hesiod’s own devising, that was used as a commentary on the culture that he lived in and that perpetuated his own biases.

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.

Pandora and Eve, Two First Ladies
 In her later role, as the source of all evil in the world, strong parallels can be drawn between Pandora and Eve in the Christian Book of Genesis. Each were the first woman in the world, and each played a major role in the world’s transition from a place of ease and bountiful life, to one of suffering and death.

The Fall of Man by Peter Paul Rubens. (Public Domain)

 In both stories the transition in the world is brought on as revenge for a transgression against divine law. Both women were given one prohibition to maintain their idyllic lives, and both were drawn to violate the prohibition - bringing evil and suffering into the world and ending the paradise they lived in, not only for themselves, but for all mankind. However, one major difference remains, Eve was created by God to help Adam, whereas Pandora was created as a punishment from the gods. Some believe that the stories of Eve and Pandora have been retold over the centuries to more closely resemble each other, and this may be why they seem so similar in the present day.

 Top Image: Pandora, lifting the lid of the ‘pithos’. By Nicolas Régnier Source: Public Domain

By Veronica Parkes

References
Cartwright, M. Pandora (online) Available at: http://www.ancient.eu/Pandora/

Atsma, A. J. 2011. Pandora (online) Available at: http://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Pandora.html

Greek Mythology. 2015. The Myth of Pandora’s Box (online). Available at: https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/pandoras-box-myth/

History. Greek Mythology (online). Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/greek-mythology