As
the story goes, when the god, Prometheus, gave the gift of fire to man, the
word “man” was meant to be quite literal. Apparently, when mankind accepted
knowledge of fire, humans only consisted of men, with no female counter-parts
being, as of yet, in existence. Zeus, the arch-god of the Greek religious
pantheon, disapproved of mankind’s possession of fire, and he decided to punish
mortal men for their receptiveness to Prometheus’ gift. The retribution of the
gods, so the tale goes, came in a familiar form for humankind—the first woman,
Pandora. At the outset of creating this new lifeform, Zeus reportedly
proclaimed, “To set against the fire I shall give them an affliction in which
they will all delight as they embrace their own misfortune” (Hesiod, Works
and Days, line 58).
Pandora’s
name translates to something akin to “Allgift,” a fitting name as all of the
gods on Olympus reportedly contributed in some way or other to her creation. Zeus
personally drew up the blueprints for how Pandora would physically look, and he
allegedly used the appearances of the goddesses on Olympus for inspiration. When
Zeus finished representing his vision through the artistic medium of his choice,
he left it to Hephaestus—the master craftsman of the gods—to bring Pandora out
of theory and into reality. Hephaestus succeeded in this task, resulting in the
creation of Zeus’ dream woman.
When
Pandora was brought to life, she was tutored by the gods in various crafts and
skills. For her personality and social skills, Pandora was taught the
principles of charm, grace and seductiveness by Aphrodite, whereas Hermes
showed her how to be cunning, and how to use subtle intrigue to get whatever
she may want. Athena, for her part, gave Pandora lessons in daily skills that
ancient Greek women would be expected to know, such as the craft of weaving.
Athena further contributed to the effort by working with the Graces and
Temptation to design Pandora’s wardrobe. They went all-out, clothing Pandora in
golden jewelry, accentuated with garlands of flowers. When the gods finished
building and instructing Pandora, they, themselves were awed at what they
created. According to Hesiod, “Both immortal gods and mortal men were seized
with wonder when they saw that precipitous trap, more than mankind can manage.
For from her is descended the female sex, a great affliction to mortals as they
dwell with their husbands” (Theogony, line 589-590).
In
addition to creating the enigma that spawned the age-old saying of can’t
live with them, can’t live without them, Zeus added to the punitive power
of the first woman by giving her an extra item—a jar. In this jar, so the story
goes, were many of the mortal woes faced by humans to this very day. As told by
Hesiod, “formerly the tribes of men on earth lived remote from ills, without
harsh toil and grievous sicknesses that are deadly to men. But the woman
unstopped the jar and let it all out, and brought grim cares upon mankind” (Works
and Days, line 90-95).
Written
by C. Keith Hansley
Picture
Attribution: (Pandora by Charles Edward Perugini (1839–1918), [Public Domain]
via Creative Commons).
Sources:
- Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod, translated by M. L. West. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1999, 2008.
- https://www.theoi.com/Heroine/Pandora.html
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pandora-Greek-mythology
- https://www.ancient.eu/Pandora/
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