He does not tell the reader why hope remained in the jar. Archaic and Classic Greek literature do not mention Pandora any more. Sophocles wrote a satyr play Pandora, or The Hammerers , but very little is known of this play. Sappho may have made reference to Pandora in a surviving fragment. Later, people filled in small details, or they added postscripts to Hesiod's story.
Examples for this are Apollodorus and Hyginus : Each of them added a part to the story, that might have already been in Hesiod's version, even though it was not written down: Epimetheus married Pandora. They each add that they had a daughter, Pyrrha , who married Deucalion and survived the deluge with him. The problem of that version is that Hesiod's Catalogue of Women , fragment 2, had made a "Pandora" one of the daughters of Deucalion, and the mother of Graecus by Zeus.
In the 15th century, a monk named Annio da Viterbo said he had found a manuscript of a historian named Berossus. Berossus had lived in the 3rd century BC. According to the manuscript, "Pandora" was also named as a daughter-in-law of Noah.
This attempt to join pagan and Christian texts was later recognised as a forgery, though. The poet Theognis of Megara , who lived in the 6th century BC, had a different view:. Hope is the only good god remaining among mankind; the others have left and gone to Olympus.
Trust, a mighty god has gone, Restraint has gone from men, and the Graces , my friend, have abandoned the earth. Theogonis seems to be referring to a different version of the myth: In that version, the jar contained blessings rather than evils.
This version seems to follow a tradition before Hesiod, which was preserved by 2nd century writer Babrius. A "foolish man" not Pandora opened the jar, and most of the blessings were lost forever. Only hope remained, "to promise each of us the good things that fled. Attic red-figure painters seem to have had a tradition which was independent of the literary sources: Sometimes, they add to the literary version, sometimes they ignore it altogether.
There are many ways in which the figure of Pandora can be interpreted. Erwin Panofsky wrote a monography on the subject. West , the story of Pandora and the jar is older than Hesiod's versions. This also explains the confusion and problems of Hesiod's version and that it is inconclusive. West cites Hesiod's Catalogue of Women , which preserved the older version.
In one version of the story, the jar may have contained only good things for mankind. West also writes that it may have been that Epimetheus and Pandora and their roles were transposed in the pre-Hesiodic myths. This is called a "mythic inversion". He remarks that there is a curious correlation between Pandora being made out of earth in Hesiod's story, to what is in Apollodorus that Prometheus created man from water and earth.
There are different questions that need to be discussed. The Greek original text speaks about elpis. Usually, this word is translated into English as Hope , but it could be translated differently. Expectation is another possible translation, which is more neutral. One can expect good things, as well as bad things. Hope has a positive connotation. Elpis is everything that remains in the jar, when Pandora closed it again, so does the jar give elpis to mankind, or does it keep elpis away from it?
The first question might confuse the non-specialist. But as with most ancient Greek words, elpis can be translated a number of ways. A number of scholars prefer the neutral translation of "expectation. Classical authors use the word elpis to mean "expectation of bad," as well as "expectation of good.
How one answers the first question largely depends on the answer to the second question: should we interpret the jar to function as a prison, or a pantry?
Some have argued that logic dictates, therefore, that the jar acts as a prison for Elpis as well, withholding it from men. This interpretation raises yet another question, complicating the debate: are we to take Hope in an absolute sense, or in a narrow sense where we understand Hope to mean hope only as it pertains to the evils released from the jar?
If Hope is imprisoned in the jar, does this mean that human existence is utterly hopeless? This is the most pessimistic reading possible for the myth. A less pessimistic interpretation still pessimistic, to be sure understands the myth to say: countless evils fled Pandora's jar and plague human existence; the hope that we might be able to master these evils remains imprisoned inside the jar. Life is not hopeless, but each of us is hopelessly human. It is also argued that hope was simply one of the evils in the jar, the false kind of hope, and was no good for mankind, since, later in the poem, Hesiod writes that hope is empty and no good and makes mankind lazy by taking away his industriousness, making him prone to evil.
In Human, All Too Human , philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that "Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew.
To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment. This objection leads some to render elpis as the expectation of evil, which would make the myth's tone somewhat optimistic: although humankind is troubled by all the evils in the world, at least we are spared the continual expectation of evil, which would make life unbearable. The optimistic reading of the myth is expressed by M. Elpis takes the more common meaning of expectant hope.
And while the jar served as a prison for the evils that escaped, it thereafter serves as a residence for Hope. West explains, "It would be absurd to represent either the presence of ills by their confinement in a jar or the presence of hope by its escape from one.
It is used to say that a certain action provoked many evils, just like Pandora's action to open the box released all the evils of humanity. However, despite these evils, we humans still have hope to encourage us. This phrase was produced by the Dutch humanist and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam in the 16th century, when he translated the poem of Hesiod.
In this myth, we can observe some similarities with the Christian story of Adam and Eve. Just like Pandora in ancient Greece, Eve was known as the first woman on earth in Hebrew history. Even the creation of the two women is similar: Pandora was made of earth and water and Eve from the rib of Adam, the first man on earth, who was in his turn made of slay.
Another similarity is that they both disobeyed god: Pandora opened the box and unleashed evil in the world and Eve tempted Adam to eat the forbidden apple, against God's will. Some accounts maintain that Pandora tempted Epimetheus into opening the box. However, both women brought ruin and misfortune upon men who had so far lived in a paradisiacal world, free from all sins. Pandora and Eve are considered as the progenitors of the human race and because of their curiosity, the world is cursed today.
Interestingly, Pandora was created with vicious intentions but not so Eve, who was simply created to be Adam's companion. The treachery lay in the role of Hermes and the Snake respectively. In Pandora, Hermes instilled that she must never open the box and had Hera not gifted her curiosity, it may have remained closed forever. In the Garden of Eden, the Snake tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and Life, bringing about realization and shame.
From these two stories, we can imply that women have forever been seen as perpetrators of all that is deceitful and therefore women are to blame for every evil on this world. Contact us Contact us. Sign In. Discover the myth of Pandora, the first woman The creation of Pandora All started from a gathering of the gods, where the Titans were also invited. Opening the box Epimetheus had been told by his brother never to accept any gift from Zeus. Pandora's Box The modern phrase "Pandora's Box" derives from this myth.
Pandora and Eve In this myth, we can observe some similarities with the Christian story of Adam and Eve. Famous Greek people. Best beaches in Greece. Greece in photos. Greek culture. About Greece. Where to go in Greece? What to do in Greece? Destinations by popularity. Go easy…. I am teaching World Literature to my jr. And they were amazed with the whole myth since the only one they knew was that due to the Devil all these different bad spirits came to be.
So if Pandora was the first woman on Earth how come she was created as a punishment for the mankind? Which mankind? I realize that you wrote this a loong time ago, I think you are trying to blend a bible story Adam and Eve with Greek mythology. Just like Eve was the first woman in the bible, Pandora was the first woman in Greek mythology. In the bible Adam was the first man and God singular created Eve as a companion. Greek mythos the Gods plural created Pandora for Men plural.
Hope that helps you and any others that may read this. It surprised me of the large number of people who did not know or had never heard of the myth. This was a very informational article and it was interesting to read about. I read more into Greek Myths and found some other stories I was interested in.
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