Research
This page serves as a link page for all the sources I used as well as some typed out versions that I constantly referred to during the process of writing:
Pandora's name:
Her name itself provides clues. In Greek, "Pandora" (Πανδώρα) translates to "all-gifted" or "the one who bears all gifts." This refers to the many blessings bestowed upon her by the gods. Each deity granted her a specific talent or charm
- Athena gave her cleverness
- Aphrodite gave her beauty
- Apollo gave her musical skill, and so on.
In this way, Pandora was crafted to be the "perfect woman."
Prometheus' story :
The tale of Prometheus is well-known because it explains how mankind came into possession of fire, thus enabling man to form civilizations. Prometheus served up some ox for his cousin, Zeus, and the other gods, as well as for the first men.
Prometheus, known for his cunning, served up the ox in two ways: to Zeus and the other gods, he offered up the ox's stomach, which didn't look very appealing as you can imagine. Inside the stomach, he had concealed the meat and entrails rich in fat, as well as the fleshy skin of the ox.
Meanwhile, to the men, Prometheus served up the ox's bones, which he had concealed beneath a tasty-looking layer of the animal's fat.
Zeus was annoyed. Why had Prometheus given the juicy-looking portions to the mere mortals, while he and the other deities were being served up nothing but the ox's stomach? He called out Prometheus on this. Prometheus invited Zeus to choose whichever of the two servings he would prefer, in that case.
But Zeus was too canny to be tricked, and promptly inspected the fatty bones and stomach full of juicy meat. Realizing Prometheus had meant to trick him, he grew angry with his cousin for trying to give the juicy portions of the ox to mere men, and as retribution, Zeus denied man the power of fire.Because Prometheus had tried to trick the gods, Zeus devised a punishment for mankind that would let evil into the world. And this is where the story of Pandora and her box – or rather, jar – comes in.
This punishment took the form of the first woman, Pandora, whose name means 'All-Gifts', because Zeus got Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to deliver to man via Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. Prometheus warned his brother not to accept gifts from Zeus, but Epimetheus didn't heed the warning.
Pandora unstopped a jar Epimetheus had in his possession for safe-keeping, the jar containing all the toils and sicknesses and other unspecified evils, and in taking the lid off the jar, Pandora let them out into the world.
What does the metaphor of Pandora's box really mean?
The phrase "Pandora's Box" is used whenever a simple situation or event quickly takes a turn for the worse, resulting in a series of ceaseless and uncontrollable complications. The origin of the phrase emerged from ancient Greek mythology about how the first woman created by the gods unleashed misery on the earth, thereby ending humanity's Golden Age.