J.W. Waterhouse’s painting of Pandora opening the box (1896) |
Pandora
The first mortal woman, whose curiosity unleashed the horrors of the human condition
The First Woman
Pandora was the first mortal woman. The blacksmith god Hephaestus fashioned her out of earth, and then the gods bestowed their gifts upon her: Aphrodite made her beautiful, Apollo gave her musicality, Hermes gave her the art of persuasion, etc.
Pay-Back Time
Prometheus, a fire god and divine trickster, had stolen fire from Mount Olympus to give to mankind. Zeus decided to counteract this divine benefit. He sent Pandora to Prometheus’ brother, Epimetheus, who married her.
According to different versions of the story, Pandora either brought with her, or found, a jar that she was warned not to open.
But unable to resist the temptation, she opened ‘Pandora’s box’, and all the evils of the world flew out of the jar.
In some versions, once Pandora realised what was happening, she struggled to replace the lid but only managed to trap one thing inside. However, the one thing she managed to capture for humanity was Hope – i.e. the human characteristic that can save us from despair in the face of evil. In another version of the story, the jar contained divine blessings which would have been preserved for humanity if not lost as a result of mortal curiosity.