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Pandora
Presented by: Maqsood Hasni Free Abuzar Barqi kutab’khana Augt. 2017
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Pandora Pandora (1861) by Pierre Loison (1816–1886) In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: Πανδώ α, derived fro ᾶν, pā , i.e. "all" a d δῶ ον, dōron, i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "the all-gifted" or "the all-giving") was the first human woman created by the gods, specifically by Hephaestus and Athena on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to mold her out of earth as part of the punishment of humanity for Prometheus' theft of the secret of fire, and all the gods joined in offering her "seductive gifts". Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground kylix in
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the British Museumis Anesidora, "she who sends up gifts" (up implying "from below" within the earth). According to the myth, Pandora opened a jar (pithos), in modern accounts sometimes mistranslated as "Pandora's box" (see below), releasing all the evils of humanity—although the particular evils, aside from plagues and diseases, are not specified in detail by Hesiod—leaving only Hope inside once she had closed it again The Pandora myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora
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Pandora's Box - origins What type of myth is this?
Zeus Zeus wishes to punish mankind Pandora s box is an origin myth – the attempt to explain the beginning of something. People have always wanted to know why things happen in the world the way they do. Before there was much science, they did not have much understanding of how the world works, but they still wanted to know, just as
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much as we do. Human curiosity always asks why .. and then human creativity finds ways of giving an answer. There are many myths, across all cultures, which attempt to explain the beginnings of human beings and why there are evil things like disease, hate and war in the world. In many stories, these evils are released because humans disobey gods. You may like to compare the story of Pandora with the story of Adam and Eve. Do you know any other similar stories from other cultures? Are there other versions of the story?
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Pandora Pandora Creation The story of Pandora and her box comes from Ancient Greece and is very old. Because of this, there are several versions of the myth. In Greek mythology, Pandora (meaning all-giving ) was the first woman on earth. Before humans there were the immortals (the Gods and Titans). The brothers, Prometheus
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and Epimetheus were Titans (Giant people) who had fought on the Gods side in a war. Some say they were cousins of Zeus, king of the gods; he asked Prometheus to create man out of clay and water (in many versions Hephaestus helps in this). Epimetheus had to create the animals and give them their gifts of courage, swiftness etc. He gave out all the gifts and had none left for Man. So Prometheus decides to make man stand upright, like the gods, and give them fire (which Zeus did not want them to have – some say he had removed it as a punishment). So Prometheus stole fire – some say from Zeus lightning, others from the sun and yet others from Hephaestus forge. Most agree that Zeus asked Hephaestus to make Pandora (the first woman) also out of
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earth and water, and he intended her to be a punishment. Each god and goddess gave Pandora a gift (talent), of beauty, charm, music etc but also others, like curiosity and persuasion – gifts that could be used for good or ill. Then Pandora was given a container – in the original Greek stories it was a jar and did not become a box until the Sixteenth century AD. A scholar called Erasmus, who lived in Rotterdam in Holland, translated a story of Pandora from Hesiod s work. Hesiod was a Greek poet who lived about 700BC. Erasmus was translating the Greek into Latin (which scholars did all their writing in, in those days) and translated the Greek word pithos meaning jar into the Latin word pyxis meaning box. And a box it has stayed to this
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day! How did the myth arise?
Pandora's Jar Originally a Jar? It arose as a way of explaining why dreadful things happened, such as people getting sick
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and dying. As in many origin myths, man had lived in a world without worry – until this jar / box was opened, which contained ills for mankind. Zeus knew that Pandora s curiosity would mean that she could not stop herself from opening it, especially when he had told her that she must not do so! Many other myths also explain the ills of the world by saying they are caused by human disobedience of a god s instructions. (Though some versions of this story say that the box was a real gift and the box held good things for mankind, which Pandora let escape from the box, and fly away forever, only catching Hope.) Even Hope itself has been argued about by
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scholars – not everyone agreeing that it is a great good – that maybe Zeus meant it as an evil also – otherwise it would not have been in a jar of evil. Others believe that Zeus may have relented a little, and put Hope in to help mankind through the hard times that the other gifts would bring. What does it mean to us today? Pandora's Box
Today, Pandora s box means a source of troubles. When we talk about opening Pandora s box, we use it as a metaphor to mean that we may not know what we are
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getting ourselves into! Sometimes, that we do not always know how something we have started may end, that we do not know the consequences of our actions.
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Pandora Definition By Mark Cartwright Published on 27 July 2015 Pandora (Lawrence Alma-Tadema) Pandora is a figure from Greek mythology who was not only the first woman, but --as an instrument of the wrath of Zeus-- was held responsible for releasing the ills of humanity into the world. Pandora was also an unrelated earth goddess in the early Greek pantheon. PANDORA - AN INSTRUMENT OF PUNISHMENT The name Pandora means "gifts" and "all". According to (and perhaps even invented by) Hesiod in his Theogony and Works & Days,
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Zeus had Hephaistos make Pandora, the first woman, from earth and water. Zeus intention was to use the beautiful and lovely Pandora as a means to punish Prometheus who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to mankind, who would in turn be punished. Zeus promises: Son of Iapetus [Prometheus], you who know counsels beyond all others, you are pleased that you have stolen fire and beguiled my mind – a great grief for you yourself, and for men to come. To them I shall give in exchange for fire an evil in which they may all take pleasure in their spirit, embracing their own evil. (Works & Days, 54-59) PANDORA S DIVINE GIFTS Before her departure, Pandora was given a range of divine gifts by each of the Olympian
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gods. Athena taught her all the fine crafts and dressed her in silvery robes, Aphrodite gave her grace and the means to create burning desire, and Hermes gave her "a dog s mind and a thievish character" and in her breast "set lies and guileful words" (Works & Days, 67-68, 77-78). If that was not enough, she was adorned with fine jewellery by the Graces, crowned with a magnificent golden headband made by Hephaistos, and given garlands of spring flowers by the Seasons. Finally, Pandora was given a large storage jar to take down to earth which she was told she must never open under any circumstances. FULFILLING HER DESTINY, CURIOSITY GOT THE BETTER OF PANDORA AND SHE LIFTED THE LID OF THE STORAGE JAR WHICH RELEASED ALL THE EVILS OF THE WORLD.
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PANDORA'S BOX: THE EVILS OF THE WORLD Pandora, guided by Hermes, was sent to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. Foolishly forgetting his brother s advice never to accept a gift from the gods, the beautiful Pandora was made welcome in Epimetheus home and the two married, having a daughter, Pyrrha. One day, and fulfilling her destiny, curiosity got the better of Pandora and she lifted the lid of the storage jar which released all the evils of the world. These terrible things included disease, war, vice, toil, and the necessity to work for sustenance. Pandora, realizing her mistake, quickly replaced the lid but it was too late and only one thing remained inside, caught in the edge of the jar s lip --Hope-- so that humanity might somehow bear its sudden and eternal
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misfortune. "Hope" is the traditional translation from the Greek but actually may be better represented by "anticipation" which includes an expectation of both good and bad events. Through this punishment Zeus thus compensated for the theft of fire and restored the eternal division between gods and humans. PANDORA IN ART
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A relief frieze showing the birth of Pandora appeared on the statue base of the gigantic Athena Parthenos by Pheidias which stood inside the Parthenon. According to Pliny the scene included 20 gods looking on. Pandora
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appears too on a few Attic vases in scenes probably inspired by the now lost satyr play Pandora by Sophocles. In one 5th century BCE red-figure krater, now in the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Pandora emerges from the ground, symbolizing her origin from clay. In such scenes either Epimetheus or satyrs hold mallets but the significance of these has, unfortunately, been lost and they once more illustrate the richness of Greek mythology beyond the surviving literary sources. http://www.ancient.eu/Pandora/
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