I’ve once written about the myth of Prometheus, the titan that gave humanity fire, and was severely punished for it by the gods. There is one more famous Greek story that’s connected to this myth, a story about curiosity and its consequences, the story of Pandora’s Box.
Prometheus had a brother called Epimetheus, who helped the gods create the Earth and populate it with living beings. But since Prometheus was a constant thorn in the side of the Gods, they disliked the titan brothers. The last straw was when Prometheus stole fire from Olympus and gave it to humankind, Zeus had him chained up to a mountain and punished for eternity for that act of rebellion. Zeus also wanted to punish Epimetheus, but he couldn’t directly do so like he did his brother, since he had not rebelled openly. Zeus wanted humanity to pay for accepting the gift of fire, so he came up with a plan that will trick Epimetheus into unleashing a curse upon the world.
The way Zeus tried to trick him in the beginning was to send him secretly cursed gifts. But before Prometheus was taken to the mountain, he warned his brother not to accept any gifts from the Gods, for they were trying to trick him. Epimetheus took his brother’s advice to heart, and refused all the gifts that the gods tried to give him. That’s all well and good, since the gifts were imbued with evil spirits and curses that will cause all sorts of trouble for humanity.
Zeus was getting impatient, his cursed gift idea is not working out so far because Epimetheus is wary about any gifts he receives. But the goddess Aphrodite came up with a clever solution, what if the gift didn’t look like a gift? Particularly, what if they sent Epimetheus a perfect woman to fall in love with, that way she could be the Gods’ way in. Zeus agreed, and so the Gods started working on creating the perfect irresistible woman to charm Epimetheus. She would be beautiful, smart, charming, and the last crucial trait; full of curiosity. She was given the name “Pandora” by the gods, which means “all of the gifts”. When they sent her down to the world, she met Epimetheus and the pair fell deeply in love. It wasn’t long before they got married, and at the reception, Pandora received a strange box as a wedding present. The box had a note that said that it should never be opened, for the content is not for mortal eyes. Epimetheus was suspicious of this box, but he could not refuse it since it’s a wedding present addressed to Pandora. But he warned her to listen to what the note said and never open the box.
After the wedding, she kept on thinking about the box and its contents. What was so special about this box and who gave it to her? Why would they give her a box that she’s not allowed to open? Her curiosity burned inside her, and it’s getting harder to resist opening the box each day. After all, unbeknownst to her, it is what she was created for.
One day, she could not bear it any longer. When Epimetheus was outside, she got the box out and slowly opened the lid just to peek at what’s inside. But at the slightest crack of an opening, the lid burst open, and out came a rush of wind that knocked her back. She watched in horror as the wind took the shape of evil spirits, cackling as they were set free. Zeus had packed that box with curses and evil spirits that were meant to spread all over the Earth, bringing pain and suffering to the mortals that were given the stolen fire.
As they faded into the wind, Pandora despaired at what she had done, by opening the box she had doomed humanity to a life full of suffering and misfortune. But as she wept, she felt another presence still inside the box. This presence wasn’t evil like the others, it was warm and familiar. As she opened the box one last time, a beam of peaceful light slowly floated out. This is the spirit of hope, no matter how difficult life may be for us mortals, hope will always be with us.
“To light a candle is to cast a shadow.” -Ursula K. Le Guin
