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
The very creation of women was set as a punishment to man because Prometheus, son of Iapetos, tried to trick Zeus into eating bones and then, with the tube of a fennel, steals fire to give to mankind. Zeus then proclaimed, "To set against the fire I shall give them an affliction in which they will all delight as they embrace their own misfortune." Out of Zeus' anger came Pandora, the first woman. Zeus ordered Hephaestus
One of the first mortals known was Demeter, the child of Zeus and Persephone, is known as the goddess of the underworld. After leaving Demeter, Zeus then moved on and mated with Leto with whom he then created the twin gods known as Artemis and Apollo. Apollo was known for many things following his birth. Apollo had a numours things he is remembered for, but a few is being the Olympian God of the Sun, the Light and the Music and the Prophecy. (GREEK-GODS.INFO 4).
The stories that as a whole make up the body of ancient Greek mythology have treatedthe complex subject of women in various ways. Although women are generally considered to beweak and subordinate to their husbands, there exist some examples of strong, even heroic womenin certain myths. Such “extraordinary” women include Deianeira, Phaedra, Medea, Penelope,and Clytemnestra, among others. This discussion of women will focus on the latter two,comparing and contrasting them and addressing the ways in which the former is often considereda “good” wife and the latter a “bad” wife. The comparison of Penelope and Clytemnestra willultimately show that, in certain ways, the line between “good” and “bad” wife is rather blurryand the distinction between husband-killing monster and devoted, faithful wife is not as clear-cutas one might expect.The major works in which Penelope and Clytemnestra appear are Homer’s Odyssey andAeschylus’ Oresteia, particularly the Agamemnon. One of the first things to notice about theseworks is that they were both written by men, for men. Given the ancient Greek context, this is arather obvious observation, but it deserves to be pointed out because it should be expected thatmen would have a biased view of women. Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days describe thecreation of Pandora, the first of “the race of women”, as a gift and punishment from the gods.While she is made to “look like a goddess immortal, / having the lovely, desirable shape of a
The company gave themselves that name because Pandora means “all gifted” in greek. In Greek Mythology, Pandora received many gifts from the gods including the gift of music. Pandora was also very curious and the company chose the name because they want their followers to follow their curiosity and leap into the never-ending music possibilities that Pandora Radio has to offer. Pandora Jewelry is another company that adopted their name after the Greek figure, Pandora. In Pandora Jewelry’s logo they have the words, “unforgettable moments” with the name Pandora above it. This is alluding to how the moment when Pandora opened the box and how that was an unforgettable moment. The design is also hinting at the fact that their jewelry is meant for other unforgettable moments, i.e., engagements, special
This passage is from Hesiod’s Works and Days. It describes the birth of Pandora and exactly how she was created. Works and days is a didactic poem by Hesiod that embodies the experiences of his daily life and work, forming a sort of shepherd's calendar, interwoven with episodes of fable, allegory, advice and personal history. This passage begins with Zeus ordering the lame God Hephaestus to create Pandora from clay.
Prometheus is given a (possibly) eternal torment, to be chained to a column and have his liver torn out daily. His brother Epimetheus is given what we may infer is punishment of comparable magnitude: the first woman. In the Works and Days, we learn she is called Pandora, "The Gift of All." This gift comes with many alluring qualities: she looks "like a goddess immortal, having the lovely shape of a virgin," she is taught by Athena weaving, and Aphrodite has"shed on her charm, …mak[ing] her an object of painful love and exhausting desire" (Theogony, 62-66). She is dressed by Athena in a "silver-white gown (575) and adorned by the Graces and "our Lady Persuasion" with golden necklaces, and crowned by Horai with flowers, as well as an intricately crafted golden crown, which, while a "marvel to look at," depicts "terrible monsters." And if these charms aren’t enough to lure a man into the clutches of woman, men who do not marry and have progeny are doomed to "baneful old age with no one to care for his needs,"(604-5) and his collateral heirs will divide his goods.
Prometheus is given the task of making mankind. He makes man and gives them fire. Then Zeus gets angry at Prometheus and takes away fire, but Prometheus brings back fire from the son. When Zeus sees that man has fire again, he is angry with Prometheus and gives him a woman as punishment. From Pandora, the first woman, came all of the evil in the world.
“Zeus, angry with Prometheus for stealing fire and giving it to man, had the gods create another gift, a woman of great beauty and evil, from whom womankind is descended… she opens a jar from which pains and evils escape, leaving only hope caught within the lid.”(Murray 91). Murray shows the direct link between the actions of Prometheus and Pandora, as does Hesiod, but Murray accomplishes this actively through analysis of the events, whereas Hesiod does so in an additional passive sense, through the use of structure in the Theogony.
The two myths “Loo-Wit The Firekeeper” and “Pandora’s Box” may have different origins, but they both share many of the same qualities. For example, they both had symbols and objects that represented the theme of their stories. The theme in “Loo-Wit The Firekeeper” was that we want what we don’t have because humans are naturally curious and sometimes greedy. A symbol that represented these theme was fire. The text states on page 482 “You must keep the fire burning there to remind people that their hearts must stay good”. This represents the theme because later in the story when the brothers start quarrelling again, the creator takes away the fire and gives it to Loo-wit. This causes the two brothers to realize that the quarrelling
but then there was also hope inside it. So it makes you wonder if Zeus was trying to harm mankind or protect them since he could have given Pandora that box to instil patience and honesty into her mind and not really meant to punish her hence the reason why hope was included in the box. So it just goes to show that Zeus helped but mostly brought destruction to
The story of Pandora is one that shows how men found themselves superior and blamed women for the problems of the world. In the story Prometheus offered Zeus something that looked good but was bad on the inside. In return Zeus offered him something that looked good on the outside but was filled with lies, swindles, and other bad behaviors (Powell 115). To make a long story short, Pandora opened the jar and made the good life turn into labor, misery, and disease, with death in the end. I think that this showed that the Greco-Roman society blamed women for all of their problems. I think that this is different than the women's role in today's society. I think that men are blamed more for the problems of today. Even though you and I both know they're mostly the fault of women.
Another myth of a cautionary tale concerns Prometheus, a Titan, who chose to go against the gods by stealing the secret of fire in order to help humans build society and live as gods. Yet in the end, the humans suffer as Pandora is sent to earth with a box filled with terrible things with which to punish the mortals who dared to take one of the things that separated gods from humans: fire. The world of Pandora in Avatar is like the Pandora of myth. The humans had to figuratively and literally dig deep into the world of Pandora to uncover the good and bad, just as Pandora had to open a box to unleash hope and evil. Jake himself metaphorically opens Pandora’s Box by accepting the offer to be the
The myth of Pandora starts with two brothers, Epimetheus and Prometheus, who were Titans that tasked themselves as spokespeople for their creation from clay: mankind. Epimetheus was in charge of creating the creatures that were to roam the Earth while Prometheus was to distribute them. While most animals were armed or protected by their physical attributes, man stood alone naked and bear to all those that may attack. Thus, Prometheus, the mischevious of the two, deceived Zeus one day into giving mankind the best portion of a sacrificed bull, leaving behind bare bones and fats for the gods. Outraged and offended, Zeus then took the gift of fire away from mankind to leave them in the cold and darkness. However, Prometheus once again outwitted Zeus and stole unwearying fire for men to have the intelligence necessary to sustain their lives. As punishment, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock in Caucasus where an eagle ripped apart and devoured his liver every day, which then regenerated each nightfall as result of his immortality. Although Prometheus caused him the most angst, Zeus believed the kind-hearted Epimetheus deserved to struggle as well in a form that would not only punish him but also the brothers’ creation of mankind. Zeus called out for Hephaestus to construct the most beautiful, intelligent, and brave women named Pandora to be the new companion of Epimetheus in place of Prometheus. However, he also graced her with one other quality: curiosity. So, Zeus delivered his
we can trust this article because it is a very particular focus. I believe the authors intensions for writing this article is to inform the readers of opening Pandora's box. Pandora's name means all gifts. she was the first women created by Zeus to punish mortal men and
Pandora, like Eve, is seen as being the unleasher of evil. In Mythology, in one account, it is said that from Pandora, “the first woman, comes the race of women” (Hamilton 70). Women are then said to be, “evil to men, with a nature to do evil”(Hamilton 70). Pandora and her descendants {womankind} are, blatantly said to be inherently evil. Many other female characters in Mythology are also characterized as being, if not evil, possessing other wicked traits such as being conniving, manipulative, vain, and even oftentimes being said to be sorcerers. This representation of female characters an effect of the original statements made about Pandora and womankind at the beginning of Mythology. However, in an alternative version of Pandora’s narrative, Pandora is illustrated in a different way. Pandora’s manner of unleashing evil into the world was through, “not her wicked nature, but only her curiosity ” (Hamilton 72). In this account Pandora herself isn’t evil, but she is still to blame for the evil unleashed upon the world. Pandora is blamed for her lack of understanding of the consequences of her actions. She stands as a symbol for the thoughtlessness, and foolishness of woman and their inferiority to men, who unlike woman, are more thoughtful and