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Pandora's Box Research Paper

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Christain Shorter Ms. Alexander World Literature 9 November 2015 Pandora’s Box? Pandora is one of the most well-known figures in mythology. Her name means “all-gifted” (Gall 119). She was the first human woman ever created by the gods. “Hephaestus created a human girl. Hephaestus created a girl who was made only of clay and water” (Gall 119). Zeus demanded Hephaestus to create her to cause misery to the human race, as a punishment to Prometheus, who stole fire from Mount Olympics. Pandora is known for her curiosity. Pandora, is well known by her story called “Pandora’s Box” which was slightly mistranslated. Many gods gave Pandora different gifts. Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, gave her beauty. Hermes, the god of shepherds, well known for his cunning, gave her duplicity and boldness. Athena, the goddess of woman, gave her clothes and jewelry. Apollo, the god of music and healing, gave her musical talent and the ability of healing. Demeter, the goddess of harvest, taught her how tend a garden. Poseidon, the god of sea, gave her the ability to never drown. …show more content…

In works of literature the phrase “Pandora’s box” has been used a metaphor meaning trouble. In artworks, artists mostly paint Pandora with a box in her hands, although Pandora never had a box. There was bit of a miss translation in the sixteenth century. “In Hesiod’s original tale he used the word pithos, which means a large jar, in Greek” (Pandora’s Box). Erasmus, the guy who translate the tales from Greek into Latin, used the word pyxis which mean box (Pandora’s Box). Once he did this Pandora’s jar was referred to as “Pandora’s box”. It was said in the original tale, that was in Greek, Zeus gave Pandora a jar. If you don’t speak the language the document was originally in, you’ll never know if the translate version was translate right. Translating things from a different language can be a bit

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