Pandora's Box of Tricks

Humans have created many myths to explain the somewhat unexplainable origins of evil on Earth.

One of the themes of the origin of evil has been the Creation of Woman.

This belief is deeply entrenched both consciously and unconsciously in most cultures not only in religion or social mores but also in myths, jokes (e.g. God said, "Woe unto you, man." And created Woe-man.") and proverbs (e.g. "A woman has the form of an angel, the heart of a serpent, and the mind of an ass.")

Eve and Pandora

In the culture of Christianity, Eve, and thus all women, have been blamed for plunging mankind into a vale of tears, because she listened to the serpent in the Garden of Eden and ate of the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

In the Genesis version of the creation of humanity, Eve is fashioned from one of Adam's ribs. Whether viewed symbolically or literally, this has been interpreted as woman being subordinate and inferior to man.

In the similar Greek myth, Pandora was the first woman on Earth. Unlike Eve, she was not fashioned from one of man's ribs. She was created from water and earth by the god of craftmanship. She was given the gift of beauty from Aphrodite, the gift of music from Apollo, the gift of cunning from Hermes plus gifts from all the other gods.

Because of this, she was called All-Gifted. (pan - 'the great all' dora- 'gifted')

Some of the gifts bestowed on Pandora were rather dubious (such as the 'gift' of foolishness from Zeus and the 'gift' of curiosity from Hera).

The Pandora Legend

Unlike Eve, Pandora was not created to be a companion to man. Rather she was created by the gods expressly to be a punishment to mankind.

Pandora's unconscious purpose was to bring misery to the human race.

Before she was sent to Earth, the god Hermes gave her a beautiful jar (or box as it is now more famously known) and was instructed never to open it (but Hermes gave her the key anyway).

She was sent as a kind of 'honey trap' to the brother of Prometheus.

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Against his brother's advice, Epimetheus was seduced by the beauty of Pandora and accepted this gift of a wife from the gods.

Pandora hid the jar so that she wouldn't be tempted to open it. First she put it in a storeroom, then she put it in a chest in the storeroom, then she buried the chest in the garden. So she did try.

Finally Pandora could no longer restrain herself and decided to peep into the box/jar.

The gods had each put a nasty gift into the box. So once opened, all kinds of sorrows were unleashed unto humanity: Sickness, Insanity, Pestilence, Vice, Greed, Crime, Death, Theft, Lies, Jealousy, and so on.

But all was not lost. Pandora managed to close the box before Elpis, the gift of hope could escape.

Alternative Versions

Just as the gods had all bestowed Pandora with divine gifts, each god had put a blessing in the box such as peace, abundance, health and so forth.

So when Pandora opened the box, all these blessings flew away and there was misery upon the earth.

There is also a version similar to Eve enticing Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit. In this version, Pandora persuades Epimetheus to open the box.

Related Posts

The Lucifer Connection

Saturn: Moons and Myths

The Creation of Man

The Curse of the Divided Self - Part III

Legends of the Fall - Part II