Have you ever wondered why so many bad things happen in the world? Or men, why can't you understand why women are the way they are? Well this myth solves those questions.
There are many stories in Greek mythology that capture the imagination. However, my favorite is Pandora's Box. According to the myth Zeus was pretty angry with man since Promethius stole fire for man. So he decided to get even with what else but the danger of a curious woman by the name of Pandora. He asked Hephaestus and Athena for their assistance. So Hephaestus made her beautiful and Athena dressed her and taught her weaving. Other Gods helped out giving her gifts such as deceitfulness and such. Aphrodite gave two of the most important gifts to the story Vanity and curiosity. Prior to this there were no women on earth. Only men. So when this present was delivered Promethius' brother Epimetheus was entranced by her beauty and took her to be his bride. Much to Promethius' dismay for Promethius warned "Never except Gifts from the Gods of Olympus" but Epimetheus didn't listen. Pandora some how came across a box. Now this is where the myth varies. In some versions she is given it on Olympus, in others she finds it hidden in the home. Even the fact that it is a box is debatable in some stories. There are versions where she has the classic box in others it is a jar either way she has an earthen vessel of some sort.
Anyway, she has been warned not to open this box under any circumstances. Well, with a natural curious nature how can the poor girl resist? In this case curiosity didn't kill her like it did the cat but it certainly caused a lot of damage. When the box was opened it released all sorts of plagues upon the world such as insanity, prejudice, illness, hatred etc. (these too vary from story to story) were released upon the world. However, when the bad things came out there was one thing left at the bottom of the box, hope.
Even though all of those horrible things have come out and have caused pain to humankind at the end of the day there is still hope. That is why this is my favorite myth. As human creatures we have had to face some really nasty things. We have had famines, hatred that nearly wiped out whole populations of people, illness that has brought us to our knees but through it all there has been hope and no matter what it will always be there. Pandora is considered to be the first ever woman. She is the reason why women today are considered to be cunning, deceitful and curious.
