The Story of Pandora's Box What is Pandora's Box?

Pandora (Greek: Πανδ also translated as Pandora), the first woman on earth made of clay by the fire god Hephaestus or Zeus in Greek mythology, was the first woman to be given to mankind as a punishment for Prometheus's creation of man and the theft of fire. The gods also joined in to give her a more seductive charm.

According to mythology, Pandora opened the box and unleashed all the evils of the world—greed, nothingness, slander, jealousy, pain, and so on—but Pandora, according to the will of the Father of the Gods, closed the lid and put it in the box forever.

According to this, the phrase pandora's box is often borrowed in English as "the source of disaster", and open pandora's box is used to mean "cause all kinds of disasters".

The myth of Pandora has a long history, appearing in different versions and interpreted from different angles. However, in all literary versions, this myth serves as a natural theology to explain the existence of sin in the world. In the 7th century BC, Hesiod was the first literary work on Pandora's story in his Genealogy of the Gods (line 570, which presumably mentions but does not fully mention Pandora's name) and Works and days.

Legend one

Pandora then lived with Epimetheus. Soon after, Prometheus brought Epimetheus a large box and repeatedly told him that he must not open it, but Pandora was a woman with great curiosity, and Prometheus's repeated instructions made her desire to open the box, she thought: "Why should an ordinary box be hidden so secretly?" And it's covered so tightly, why is it?" While Epimetheus was out, Pandora quietly opened the box, only to find that it contained nothing Pandora had expected, but countless plagues and pests. Before Pandora opened the box, human beings did not have any calamities and lived in peace, because all viral diseases were locked in the box, so that human beings could be spared from torture. Because of Pandora's curiosity, disasters and plagues escaped, and since then, disasters have been harming and suffering mankind day and night, everywhere.

In a state of panic and fear, Pandora quietly closed the box, leaving behind the only beautiful thing in the box— hope.

Therefore, even if human beings are constantly suffering and tortured by life, there is always a precious hope in their hearts to motivate themselves. Before death, hope is always there, and life is absolutely full of good hope.

Legend two

It is said that Prometheus had warned his brother not to accept any gift from Zeus on Mount Olympus, but to return it immediately. But Epimetheus forgot this warning and gladly accepted the beautiful young woman. It was only later, when he suffered, that he realized that he had brought calamity to mankind. Until then, mankind obeyed prometheus's warning, and therefore there was no terrible calamity, no hard labor, and no afflicting disease. Now, this charming Pandora holds the gift in both hands, which is a large closed box. As soon as she reached Epimetheus, she suddenly opened the lid of the box, and the disaster inside flew out like black smoke and spread rapidly to the ground. There was only one beautiful thing hidden in the bottom of the box: hope, but Pandora, according to the admonition of Zeus, the father of the gods, quickly closed the lid before it flew out, so that the "hope" that Athena had placed at the bottom of the box to save mankind was forever locked in the box. Since then, disasters of all kinds have filled the earth, the sky and the ocean. Diseases spread day and night among humans, raging, and silently, because Zeus did not let them make sounds. All kinds of fevers are rampant on the earth, and the god of death is running wildly in the human world like an enclave.

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