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Ms. Armstrong

September 13, 2011

Pandora’s Box

From the beginning of time, Greek myths have been passed down through the generations. One particular myth Pandora’s Box, tells how Pandora, the first woman on Earth, releases all the misfortunes and sorrows of existence by opening a box given to her by the king of the gods, Zeus (Lindemans; "Pandora").

The creation of Pandora began when the god of fire and benefactor for mankind, Prometheus, saw humans shivering at night and eating raw meat. He realized that they needed fire and believed that man would use fire for good reasons more so than bad. Therefore Prometheus travelled to the Isle of Lemnos and stole fire from the forge of the smith god, Hephaestus, and gave it to man. When Zeus, the king of the gods, found out about his treachery he punished Prometheus with trickery (Bulfinch; doomshroom).

The still enraged Zeus secretly decided to get revenge on Prometheus by punishing mankind. Zeus did so by having Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, pose as a model while Hephaestus moulded the perfect woman out of clay who later was given the name Pandora (Regula). After her creation, Pandora whose name means “all gifts” was dressed in a silvery gown, fine jewellery and received many qualities from the Olympian deities. Those gods included: Aphrodite who adorned Pandora with grace, beauty, and desire, Athena, the goddess of war, who taught Pandora crafts such as needlework and weaving, and Hermes, the messenger god, who gave her cunning, boldness and speech. The final gift given to Pandora was curiosity (Pontikis; “Athena Ancient Greek Goddess.”; “Pandora.”).

Prepared to live on Earth, Pandora left Mount Olympus escorted by Hermes (Robey ). At that moment, Zeus intended to follow through with his plan, and offered Pandora to be Prometheus’ wife, but the fire god realized that she must be a trick and refused. Zeus became angry once again and punished Prometheus by chaining him to a rock where a giant eagle came daily to feed on his liver (Bulfinch; Tyree).

Still determined to seek revenge on mankind, Zeus sent Pandora as a gift to Epimetheus, god of afterthought and brother to Prometheus. The titan gladly accepted Pandora as his wife and the two were married (“The Myth of Pandora’s Box”). Zeus saw his opportunity and sent Hermes down to Earth to deliver Pandora a beautiful box as a wedding present. However this was no ordinary box, for inside it contained every evil and sickness known to humanity. Before Hermes returned back to Mount Olympus he warned Pandora to never open the box (“Pandora.”; Lindemans).

Time went by and Pandora’s fear of opening the mysterious, beautiful box slowly dissipated and her curiosity grew. One day Pandora forgot about Hermes warning and decided she could no longer bear to live without knowing what is inside the box and opened it only to immediately regret her actions. For by opening the box just a bit she released all misfortunes and sorrows. By the time she realized her mistake and closed the box up once more, only ‘hope’ remained (Pontikis; Atsma).

The term “Pandora” and “Pandora’s Box” has been interpreted in modern day entertainment, fine art and English literature. One connection easily recognized is the fictional universe Pandora, in the movie Avatar. On the television sitcom Bewitched, Samantha Stephen’s look-a-like cousin is called Pandora Spocks; a spin off on the phrase “Pandora’s Box”. “Pandora’s Box” is an album created by the band Aerosmith and the song “Pandora’s Box” is featured on their 1974 album Get Your Wings. Necklaces, bracelets and rings are created by the company Pandora Jewelry. In a literary sense, Pandora’s Box is referred as “where upon further inquiry, will lead to extensive and unexpected troubles”. For instance, “The investigation of drug use among the athletes opened a Pandora's Box implicating half the league.” (“Pandora.”; “Pandora’s Box.”).

Works Cited

“Athena Ancient Greek Goddess.” Ancient Greece. University Press Inc. 2008. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

Atsma, Aaron J. “The Theoi Project : Greek Mythology.” Theoi Project. Aaron Atsma Books. 2011. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

Bulfinch, Thomas. “Prometheus and Pandora.” . 2011. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

doomshroom. “The Greek God Hephaestus.” Bukisa. Webika Ltd. March 2009. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

Lindemans, Micha F. “Pandora.” Pantheon. MCMXCV - MMIX Encyclopedia Mythica. March 1997. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

"Pandora." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online, 2011. Web. 9 Sept. 2011.

“Pandora.” Hellenica. n.d. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

“Pandora.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Sept 2011. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

“Pandora’s Box.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Sept 2011. Web. 11 Sept 2011. 's_box

Pontikis, Nick. “Pandora The First Woman on Earth.” Thanasis. Thanasi's Olympus Greek Restaurant. 2010. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

Regula, deTraci. ”Fast Facts on: Pandora. The releaser of the world's troubles.” . Guide. 2011. Web. 11 Sept 2011.



Robey, Thomas. “Hope for Pandora. Pandora’s Box.” Blogspot. Google. May 2006. Web. 11 Sept 2011,



“The Myth of Pandora’s Box”. Greek Myths-Greek Mythology. Web Promotion SEO by Artkreta.GR. 2011. Web. 11 Sept 2011.



Tyree, Rhonda. “Pandora.” Art History. Sweet Briar College. Chris Witcombe, Professor of Art History. 1998. Web. 11 Sept 2011.

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