PANDORA Her story comes from the poem the Theogony and Works and Days, by Hesiod.Hesiod It was written in 700 B.C.E.

PANDORA—THE FIRST MORTAL WOMAN Pandora was usually depicted as a beautiful woman opening a box. She is also depicted as being made out of clay by Hephaestus.

PANDORA Greek name: Pandora Meaning of her name: All (pan) Gifts (doros) Roman/Latin name: Pandora Type: first human/mortal woman Parents: NONE (created by many gods) Spouse: Epimitheus Children: Pyrrha and Deucalion Siblings: None

HER POWERS/SKILLS Beauty Charming and persuasive, talented liar Clever Musical Talented with a needle and thread

HER STORY—THE BEGINNING When Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Zeus decided to take revenge on all humans. Revenge Plan: Zeus had Hephaestus make a beautiful woman out of clay. She would bring misery to the humans. Each god and goddess gave her a gift so she was called Pandora (all-gifts). Aphrodite--beauty, Hermes –dishonesty, cunning, deceitfulness (ability to lie well) Athene –taught her needlework and made her beautiful clothes Apollo—taught her music The Kharites (Charites, Graces) and Peitho (Persuasion) Hera gave her the wiliest gift, curiosity Hermes delivered her to Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother. Prometheus had told Epimetheus never to accept gifts from the gods.

HER STORY—THE MIDDLE Pandora was also given a sealed jar (later mistranslated as a box). She is told not to open it. Zeus told Pandora never to open the box. Zeus gave the key to Epimetheus. Epimetheus falls in love immediately, and forgetting that his brother warned him not to accept anything from the gods, marries Pandora. Pandora is very curious about the box and begs Epimetheus to open it. He refuses.

HER STORY—THE END Pandora can’t stand the curiosity, however, and she waits until he is asleep to open the box. Out of the box jump out all the horrible things in the world: diseases, evil, work, pain, panic, etc. She was able to close the box before the last thing escaped. It was Hope (elpis). This is why there are so many evil things in the world, but humans still have hope. Hesiod ends his poem with a life lesson: "Thus it is not possible to escape the mind of Zeus."

WORD USE The phrase "Pandora's Box" derives from this myth. This phrase is used to mean a situation which causes many other problems. For example, the creation of the atomic bomb was a Pandora’s box.

PANDORA NAME BRAND The Pandora jewelry company’s name is derived from Pandora, a very beautiful and charming woman. They specialize in charm bracelets so the name is appropriate.

PANDORA NAME BRAND Pandora Internet Radio "The name Pandora means 'all gifted' in Greek. In ancient Greek mythology, Pandora received many gifts from the gods, including the gift of music, from Apollo. She was also, as we all know, very curious. Unlike those gods of old, however, we celebrate that virtue and have made it our mission to reward the musically curious among us with a never-ending experience of music discovery." Source :

PANDORA SHELL Pandora shell---A burrowing bivalve mollusk with a fragile shell, the unequal valves of which form a “box” with a lid.burrowingbivalvemolluskfragileunequallid

WHAT I LEARNED The Greeks used this story to teach that the gods must be obeyed. Hesiod ends his poem with a life lesson: "Thus it is not possible to escape the mind of Zeus” which means that Zeus will punish you if you do him wrong. So the Ancient Greek gods were vengeful. I also learned that this is how Greeks explained why evil, disease and misery exist in the world. Prometheus brought evil upon himself through his actions, just as we often bring on our own problems. I learned that the original story said that it was a jar, not a box, but a mistranslation changed it to “box.”

PERSONAL CONNECTION This story teaches that we should follow the rules. However, I feel a little sorry for Pandora because she was not given an explanation as to why there is a box that she cannot open in her house and I understand her curiosity. I know for a fact that I would have been curious, too, and I am afraid to say that I would have opened it, too. I personally do not wish to believe that God punishes us directly, but I know that many times I have done something I shouldn’t have, and I have had to suffer the consequences. Sometimes we bring misery upon ourselves; sometimes we suffer through unfortunate circumstances that we are not responsible for in any way.

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