History
Created from the depths of Mount
Olympus by Hephaistos (the
god of craftsmanship)the ‘all-gifted’ ‘all
giving’ Pandora. She was the first woman moulded from the earth once the body
was ready, four winds breathed life into her and given unique gifts from all
the Olympian Gods.
Zeus, upset with the
brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus for having successfully brought fire to
humankind, making for all those annoying sparkling lights on the ground at
night, decides to even things up by introducing disease, death, and sorrow to
humankind. In the original tale these things are held in a jar, not a box. He
orders Pandora to be created and gives her as a gift to Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus.
She is told to never open her jar, but the gods and goddesses have also made
her curious. Eventually, she opens the jar, which in some versions was not
given to her by Zeus, but was instead kept locked up by Epimetheus, who did not
want humankind to suffer. But in either case, the vessel is opened. Pandora
realizes what she has done, but cannot slam the lid back on fast enough. The
only thing left in the jar is Elpis, or Hope.
Relationships
Made by Hephaistos at he request
of Zeus in which made him the father and adorned by Athena and Aphrodite. Given
as a gift to Epimethus and is mother to Pyrrha (fire)
Appearance
A beautiful young girl although
she is not immortal she does have an incredibly long lifespan. Having the
powers of the gods this enables Pandora is known to take on a similar form of
those near her and is known to take form of those much younger. With her beauty
it is also said that being in her presence evokes a strong desire and lust for
her.
Symbols
The modern phrase
“Pandora’s box” derives from this myth. It is used to say that a certain action
provoked many evils, just like Pandora’s action to open the box released all
the evils of humanity.
Also deriving from the Greek
myth is Pandora® jewellery making it symbol of fashion with jewellery ranging from
bracelets with interchangeable charms, rings, earrings watches and necklaces.
Evolution
Zeus gave Pandora a pithos which
was a large jar containing all the evils of the world. Pandora was ordered to
never open this jar; ignoring her father’s request she did and all its contents except for one item were
released into the world. The one remaining item was Hope. Today to open
Pandora's box means to create evil that cannot be undone.
The mistranslation
of pithos is usually attributed
to the 16th century humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam who translated Hesiod's tale
of Pandora into Latin. Erasmus rendered pithos
as the Greek pyxis, meaning,
"box". The phrase "Pandora's box" has been known ever since.
Sports
- -Womens Tennis - Womens Basketball - Pole Dancing?
Bibliography
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora
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