Pandora

“Curiosity killed the cat” is a misquoted phrase I hear far too often. The full, original phrase is “curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.” You may be asking how does this relate to Pandora? Well, read her story and you’ll find out! It is a short story but one that can truly make you think.

 

Pandora, the first human woman according to Greek mythology, is yet another (or I suppose the first!) in a very long, tragic line of women who have been mistreated and vilified by time. In fact, her origin is quite similar to that of Eve in Christianity and Judaism, in that she was created by a god and she is the one who is (wrongly) blamed for all the evils in the world. In fact, the misogyny in Hesiod’s interpretation (the oldest-known version) of Pandora’s tale is a factor in the later interpretations of Eve and the way she is portrayed, especially in early Medieval Christian culture onwards.

 

But this is not Hesiod’s version of the story. This is the tale of Pandora without the misogynistic take. And in this interpretation of the tale, you may come to understand that Pandora may have been long-blamed for the evils of the world, but she is also the cause of something good!

 

According to the myth provided in Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora’s name means “all-gifted," alluding of course to the jar (not box; that is a 16th century mistranslation!) she is known to have opened. However, it has been argued by many that Pandora actually means "all-giving". (Remember that for later)

On the orders of Zeus, Hephaestus, God of the Forge, created Pandora.

 

The story goes that after Prometheus stole fire from the gods to gift to humanity, Zeus grew angry and ordered the creation of a woman who would bring punishment upon them. Zeus then had the gods bestow a jar to Pandora that contained all of their gifts; these gifts being all of the evil and disease that the world would come to know.

 

Prometheus had a brother, Epimetheus, who married the beautiful Pandora, despite his brother’s warning to never accept a gift from Zeus. In some versions of the story it was Prometheus himself who married Pandora, but the most common telling is that it was his brother.

 

Now, when Pandora had been given this jar she was warned never to open it. She had not been told why, only that she could never look inside. Over the years curiosity increasingly had crept up on Pandora until at last, after she had married Epimetheus, she could no longer resist the call of the jar and she opened it, only for a second, to peer within.

 

As the jar was opened, the evils of the world flew out, with no way to stop them. Pandora slammed the jar shut quickly, but it was too late. The evils had been released. But one thing remained within the jar, too slow to escape in that first instance.

Hope. Hope remained.

 

The fact that Hope was the only thing left in the jar is telling. Hope is what lifts us up when we need it. Hope is what gets people through when the evils of the world threaten to overcome them. Hope is what we all need in the darkest of times.

 

Pandora gave humanity hope.

 

She is too often blamed for her curiosity by opening the jar and releasing the evils within out into the world. But not once has she ever been recognised for providing hope. Hope for a better day.

 

Now, going back to the start of this post, curiosity may have “killed” the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. Pandora may have been curious and she may have opened a jar and released evil into the world, but the world is not doomed. The world is still here. And hope remains. And that small piece of hope, found at the bottom of a simple jar, will bring us back.