Pandora: First Mortal Woman In Greek Mythology

Learn about the myth of Pandora, discover its most famous stories and how they have come down to us today as great myths.

Who was Pandora?

Pandora was the first mortal woman in Greek mythology, a sort of ancient Greek Eve. Following the instructions of Zeus, who wanted to punish Prometheus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humans; she was molded by Hephaestus and endowed with gifts by all the other Olympian gods. One of these gifts was a jar filled with all the evils and diseases that exist in the world; once Pandora married Epimetheus, she lifted the lid of this jar and freed them all, thus marking the end of the Golden Age of Humanity.

The creation of Pandora

Pandora, the first woman, was created by Zeus to neutralize the blessing of fire, which had been stolen by Prometheus from Olympus. The birth of Pandora was depicted on the pedestal of the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon of the Acropolis of Athens.

The gift of balance

After Prometheus stole fire from Olympus and brought it back to earth in a pile of fennel, the enraged Zeus decided to give humans something to balance this new acquisition, “a thing evil to men as the price of fire.” He then asked Hephaestus to create a creature endowed with numerous seductive and alluring gifts that would plague mankind thereafter.

The Olympians create Pandora

Hephaestus set to work almost instantly. He mixed some earth with water and formed from the mixture “a sweet, lovely, maiden-like, maiden-like immortal goddesses in the face.” Athena clothed this new being in a beautiful silver dress, and taught her embroidery and weaving.

Then Aphrodite joined in, adding some elegance and longing to the mix. The Graces and the Peitho (Persuasion) gifted the being with gold necklaces, and the rich-haired Horae placed a flowery garland on her head. Finally, Hermes placed in her the voice of humanity and, by the will of Zeus, conceived within her many lies and cunning words.

Pandora, the first woman

She was a masterpiece for the ages of this being, so beautiful and devious at the same time that wonder gripped the immortal gods themselves! They called her Pandora, which means “she of all below,” because each of the gods dwelling on Olympus gave her some kind of gift. Of her, writes Hesiod (who, as should be obvious by now, did not hold women in high esteem), “the deadly race and tribe of women who live among mortal men in their great plight, receive no help in hateful poverty, but only in wealth.”

Pandora’s jar “Pandora’s box”

Now, it seems that Pandora’s “sheer cunning” was not punishment enough for mankind. So, the gods also bequeathed her with many other gifts, plagues and evils to bread-eating men, which they carefully packed in a beautiful jar, her supposed dowry.

With the jar in hand, Pandora was given in marriage to Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother, who accepted the divine gift despite his brother’s warnings never to accept a gift from Olympian Zeus.

One day, out of curiosity and not out of malice, Pandora lifted the lid of the jar, thus instantly releasing all the evils and diseases of the world. Surprised by what had happened, she quickly tried to put the lid back in place, managing to trap Hope inside it.

This is why Hope is the last thing to die in man: though deceptive from time to time, it is the only solace humans have for all the problems Pandora let loose on the world. The event of its release marks the end of the haunting Golden Age of Man, and the beginning of the Silver Age, the second of the five Ages of Man.

Deucalion and Pyrrha

After some time, Pandora gave birth to Epimetheus a daughter named Pyrrha who was later given in marriage to Prometheus’ son, Deucalion. Deucalion and Pyrrha were the only two mortals to survive the Great Flood sent by Zeus to end the Bronze Age. Afterwards, Pyrrha and Deucalion repopulated the earth by forming men and women out of stones; thus, in a way, Pandora can be considered the grandmother of all humans.

The myth of Pandora’s box

The myth of Pandora’s box is considered one of the most descriptive myths of human behavior in Greek mythology. The ancient Greeks used this myth not only to educate themselves about the weaknesses of humans, but also to explain various misfortunes of the human race.

Pandora was, according to the myth, the first woman on Earth. She was created by the gods; each of them gave her a gift, which is why her name in Greek means “the one who carries all the gifts”. Pandora was created as a punishment for mankind; Zeus wanted to punish people because Prometheus stole fire to give her.

Her gifts were wonderfully evil, according to Hesiod. Hephaestus created her from clay, giving her perfect form, Aphrodite gave her femininity and Athena taught her crafts. Hermes was ordained by Zeus to teach her to be deceitful, stubborn and curious.

Pandora was given a box or jar, called a “pithos” in Greek. The gods told her that the box contained special gifts from them, but she was never allowed to open the box. Hermes then took it to Epimetheus, Prometheus‘ brother, to be his wife. Prometheus had advised Epimetheus not to accept anything from the gods, but he saw Pandora and was amazed by her beauty, so he accepted her immediately.

Curious

Pandora was trying to tame her curiosity, but in the end she could not stand it any longer; she opened the box and all the diseases and difficulties that the gods had hidden in it started to come out. Pandora was frightened, because she saw all the evil spirits coming out and tried to close the box as quickly as possible, closing Hope from the inside.

According to Hesiod Hope, in fact, stayed inside because it was Zeus’ will; he wanted to let people suffer to understand that they should not disobey their gods. Pandora was the right person to do this, because she was quite curious, but not malicious.

The myth of Pandora’s box has fascinated people forever, attracting the imagination of countless artists, who created frescoes, mosaics and sculptures depicting Pandora and mythological elements. The myth itself, however, appears in many different versions; the most distinctive difference is that in some myths hope comes to light. The main purpose of the Pandora myth, however, is to address the question of why evil exists in the world.

Sources

Two slightly different versions of the Pandora story can be read in Hesiod’s “Theogony” and in his “Works and Days“; both are misogynistic and, according to modern scholars, neither is misogynistic towards Pandora, who, instead of being an “all-gifted” mortal woman, might originally have been an all-giving Earth Goddess. So, when you read Hesiod, keep that in mind.