The story of Pandora is the definition by Greek Antiquity of how women came to be and the role they play amongst mankind. Some believe that it was Hesiod’s interpretation and explanation through myth of all the evils in the world; others though believe that it is a lesson in life which the myth teaches us about ourselves. The myth we commonly know begins with Zeus, Prometheus, and mankind. Zeus ordered the Titans Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus to give gifts to all the animals of the world in which they did, finally coming upon mankind. When mankind was last to receive his gift it was realized that there were none left. So Prometheus the god of foresight stole fire from Mount Olympus and presented it to mankind. This moment here marks an internal change in mankind’s evolutionary process spiritually. It is commonly known that what separates mankind from the animals was the courage to reach out and touch the fire that came upon Earth. To disregard fear and gain confidence then to finally conquer and harvest energy that forever changed mankind’s way of life was a significant moment in our history. It is because of that gift of fire that allowed mankind to no longer have to endure eating raw meat, living in the cold, and being able to barely survive the next winter. But was it really a god that came down and handed mankind a flaming torch, congratulating them on what would later come from this? Not literally, but to view this myth for what the symbols represent is the best way to learn what this myth can actually teach us.
Prometheus, representing the idea of ‘foresight’ presented the gift of fire to mankind. In a sense when man reached his hand out to forever separate him from the rest of the animal kingdom he acquired the capabilities of foresight or being able to understand better what the harvesting of fire would mean for our people. This gift from Prometheus led to be able to better endure every winter thereafter, begin to forge metal and solidify our shelter, it forever changed our diets and eating habits, and it allowed us to continue or work and productivity into the night because fire provides light. But this awesome gift that was stolen from Mount Olympus did not go unpunished. Again it was Prometheus who stole fire from Mount Olympus or in other words gave mankind the gift of being able to understand and harness something only the gods were once allowed to. Zeus, who never wanted this to happen strapped the Titan Prometheus to a rock where a Raven eats out his liver daily, because he is immortal his liver regenerates for the crow to continue its feast consistently. After this Zeus than offered his own gift upon mankind but not without forewarning from Prometheus, because this was not specifically a gift of love but a gift of vengeance as well. Zeus ordered Hephaestus the god of craftsmanship to model a woman who in looks represented the goddesses. Womankind was given gifts from various gods and goddesses when created and presented to mankind. These gifts ranged from beauty from Aphrodite, deceitfulness and persuasiveness from Hermes, and music from Apollo. When Zeus finally offered his gift upon mankind, mankind (against Prometheus’s advice) eagerly accepted.
The first woman was named Pandora and she was presented to mankind holding a box. This box contained all the evils in the world and Pandora, being a curious creature eventually opened the box releasing these evils amongst us. Now this is where the myth through time has lost its original lesson. We are already taught that the god of foresight gave us fire, a type of knowledge and understanding about the world around us that forever changed us, but with any good comes bad. Unlike the Christians viewpoint of the suffering and turmoil of the world women are not at all blamed in Hellenic Reconstructionism or any other Polytheistic religion for that matter. According to not only Christian doctrine but as for most Monotheistic doctrine for that matter it was Eve who bit down into the apple of knowledge not only being disloyal to Adam but forever cursing humankind with the unwanted knowledge of the evils in the world around us. But as for the Hellenic viewpoint of what Hesiod shared with the world, it was unmistakably mankind who took that initial step towards self awareness. As legend and myth portrays, that for every woman Zeus offers mankind the evils that lie in her box are just as evil as the beauty she possesses. As pagans firmly believe women are the center of mankind’s survival. They allow us the opportunity to procreate and spread our own seed, so to abuse women or to hold liable for all the pain and suffering of the world is ludicrous. When Pandora opened up the box all evils were unleashed upon the world all but for one that Hesiod mentions which is “Hope”. It has been a topic of many discussions why hope was never unleashed upon the world from Pandora’s Box. Hesiod never mentions why but many different philosophies have floated through antiquity of why hope still remains tucked away safely under the lid of the box. Again, when Zeus presented womankind to mankind as a punishable gift he was giving us the knowledge of what womankind existence amongst mankind is capable of. As the old saying goes, “can’t live with them can’t live without them,” this was especially true and common knowledge of our ancestors. Mankind’s punishment (not womankind) for accepting the fire from Prometheus or in other words accepting the gift of foresight was to be forever cursed with the knowledge of the energies both positive and negative that existence could offer.
This gift was not only of foresight through fire but also self awareness when mankind realized we had officially separated ourselves from nature. This self awareness, like that of a teenager becoming an adult was not only accepted with excitement and joy but also with a sense of regret and hesitancy. Through many different cultures the viewpoint of the realization of evils in the world has always been left to blame and at the fault of womankind, when in actuality it was the relentless and never ending curiosity of mankind that helped realize the world around us. Referring back to the myth, Hesiod does mention one particular virtue that was not ever released upon the world but forever tucked away underneath the lid of Pandora’s Box. Deep within every woman is her own ‘Pandora’s Box’ but within that box is the virtue hope that never released itself. A personal philosophy of mine is that hope was never meant to be released from the box.
Hope is something that drives not only mankind but womankind as well. The hope for success, the hope for happiness, the hope for a great future, this all keeps our drive positive and keeps are drive going. Without hope we have nothing to fight or strive for and if hope is obtained than what do we have left? And it is only fitting that hope be contained in Pandora’s Box which women are the sole bearers of. For what other reason would most men have so much energy to fight and strive for it not the love of a woman? The virtue hope must almost always be unattainable so that we may set not only the example of hard work and strife, but also that if all hope is attained what do we have next? Understanding the viewpoint of the evils that exist in our world and the role women play among us differently instead of the traditional monotheistic viewpoints would go to prove itself in just the fairness and injustice between rights of men and women. It was common in antiquity for a woman to have a sense of power either as a teacher, politician, or just for herself in comparison to the contradictory ways of the new age world religions which hold women in constant content. It is this refusal of open mindedness that forces a literal societal setback. For example, the work that Susan B. Anthony did for women’s rights in the 19th century, nearly two thousand years after the Alexandrian philosopher Hypatia already had women’s rights established and was a working teacher. Without these cultural setbacks and purposeful degradation of ancient teachings our society would not be repeating problems that were once already fought.
