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Who was Pandora? -

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first mortal woman created.

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Hesiod and his poem -

We are told this by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod in his c. 700 BCE poem 'Work and Days.'

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Prometheus gets fired up -

In 'Work and Days,' Hesiod writes that Prometheus defied the gods by stealing fire from them and bestowing it to humanity.

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Zeus is angry -

Enraged by the actions of Prometheus, Zeus, the king of the gods (and who was identical to the Roman god Jupiter) commissioned Hephaestus, the divine smith and patron of craftsmen, to fashion a woman out of earth.

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Hephaestus creates a woman -

Hephaestus obliged. According to Hesiod, each of the gods presented the woman with a gift, a deed that gave the woman her name—Pandora. Her name in Greek means "the one who bears all gifts."

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The birth of Pandora -

Pandora is beautiful, the woman's elegant allure, grace, and desire afforded her by Aphrodite. But Hermes, the messenger god, bestows on her a cunning, deceitful, and curious mind, plus a crafty tongue.

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Epimetheus, the brother -

Hesiod writes that Zeus, still seeking revenge on Prometheus, spitefully presented Pandora to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus.

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A passion for Pandora -

Epimetheus had been warned by Prometheus not to accept anything from the gods, including Pandora. But her beauty proved captivating and Epimetheus quickly took her hand.

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When is a box not a box? -

Hesiod reminds us in his poem that one of the gifts Pandora had been given was a closed jar, and that she was emphatically told not to open it. The jar is in fact a pithos, a large vessel for storing wine (it was only in the 16th century during the Renaissance that the jar started to be referred to as a box) .

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Unlocking the myth -

From the outset, Pandora was overwhelmed by curiosity. What was in the box? Hesiod doesn't mention whether the jar was locked, but in some versions of the story it's Epimetheus that has the key to unlock the lid of the vessel.

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Who opened Pandora's box? -

So, who exactly opened Pandora's box? Again, this depends on what version of the story you read, or believe. In this illustration, it's clearly Epimetheus lifting the lid.

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Did Pandora open the box? -

Here, Pandora herself is hoisting the cover above her head, much to the horror of Epimetheus.

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What's in the box? -

So, what was inside Pandora's box, and why did even Zeus himself warn against revealing the contents?

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Malevolent vessels -

Jars and urns full of bad things figure prominently in Greek mythology. One of the earliest references to these vessels of misfortune can be found in Homer's Iliad.

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Two for the price of one -

Confusingly for anyone trying to get a grip on Pandora's box, the Iliad, written by the Greek poet in the 8th century BCE, alludes to two urns, "one filled with evil gifts, and the other with good ones." Homer, it seems, is not describing Pandora's box. In the 6th century and 100 years after Hesiod, Greek poet Theognis of Megara writes of just one jar containing blessings rather than evils. Could this be it?

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Evil unleashed -

Either way, when Pandora's box was opened, it did indeed put an end to earthly paradise.

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Pandora is to blame -

Furthermore, mythology tends to point the finger of blame firmly at Pandora and not Epimetheus.

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A tide of woe -

By it getting the better of her, Pandora's curiosity led to the box being opened and the release of a tide of trouble and woe.

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The world's ills unhinged -

In fact, by not keeping a lid on things, so to speak, Pandora liberated sorrow, disease, vice, violence, greed, madness, old age, and death.

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Humankind cursed -

In a word, life's misery escaped its prison to plague and curse humankind forever.

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Hope for us all -

Pandora is redeemed by the fact that the spirit of Hope, personified by the goddess Elpis, remained alone in the box, Pandora having slammed the lid shut before she could escape.

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When jar became box -

By the Renaissance, when the jar became a box through the mistranslation of the Greek language, poets spoke of blessings that would have been preserved for the human race had they not been lost by the vessel being opened.

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What can we learn from Pandora's box? -

Pandora's box is symbolic of how all things have consequences. Curiosity can result in disaster. Self-control is therefore a virtue.

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Hope above all -

In some versions of the myth, Hope does escape the box. By doing so, the question as to why evil exists in the world is answered. All is lost.

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Pandora's box as a metaphor -

To open Pandora's box today refers to a source of endless complications or trouble arising from a single, simple miscalculation—an action that has unforeseen negative ramifications.

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Curiosity can be good -

That said, the story of Pandora's box also reminds us that curiosity is an asset when applied to learning new things.

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Is Pandora's box misogyny? -

The Pandora story has often been viewed as the origin of a perceived Greek misogyny because it attributes the provenance of evil in the universe to the existence of a woman. Pictured is a 5th-century BCE Athenian wine-mixing vessel depicting the birth of Pandora, with Zeus, Hermes, and Epimetheus all present.

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Hope for us all -

Fortunately, as the ills of the world were spilled, Pandora's success in closing the box before the spirit of Hope escaped means that desire, expectation, and optimism still prevail throughout the world.

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Moral of the tale -

The moral of Pandora's box, therefore, is that unchecked curiosity and disobedience can be dangerous, but hope remains.

Sources: (ThoughtCo) (Britannica) (National Gallery of Art)

See also: Curious facts about ancient Greece 

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