Live Your Myths

Greek Myth | Pandora's Box

As seems to be a running theme in Greek mythology, the story of Pandora and her box revolves around the gods punishing someone. And the one bestowing the punishment in this case was Zeus. Our story begins with two Titan brothers, Prometheus and Epimetheus.

It is well-known that the Olympians defeated the Titans. Before this occurred, something unusual happened. Two of the Titans, brothers named Prometheus and Epimetheus, swore their loyalty to Zeus and the Olympians. Not to their fellow Titans. Prometheus had the gift of prophesy, therefore he already knew who the winner would be, and he wanted to be allied with the winning team so to speak. And naturally so did his brother Epimetheus. Zeus was pleased with their choice, and gave them the privilege of creating Earth's first creatures.

Epimetheus chose to form all of the animals along with ways to protect themselves. Prometheus formed mankind. The trouble was, he had taken so long to create his masterpiece, there were no forms of protection left. This left Prometheus in a tough spot. So, he went to Zeus, and asked him if he could have fire for man. And Zeus said no. Fire was for the gods only. This surely did not make Prometheus very happy, since he had spent so much time on his creation. And now man would be defenseless? Absolutely not. Then Prometheus did something very noble, but that would haunt him for many years. He stole fire from the gods, and gave it to man. Maybe he thought he could pull a fast one on Zeus and get away with it? Although, he did have the gift of prophecy, so why didn't he know the consequences of his actions? We will never know.

Prometheus was punished. Zeus chained him to a rock in the distant Caucasus Mountains. This is the mountain range where today Europe and Asia meet, separating Russia and Georgia. Hidden in the mountain range, he was subjected to daily torture. His liver was eaten by an eagle. It then grew back and would be eaten by the eagle the next day. Spoiler alert: in the distant future, Greek hero Heracles killed the eagle and freed Prometheus.

This was still not enough for Zeus. Man also needed to be punished for taking the fire from Prometheus. So Zeus created a beautiful woman, using Aphrodite the goddess of beauty as his model Pandora was not only given divine good looks, but she was also wise, kind, peaceful, and generous. And curious of course. She was brought to Epimetheus on Earth to be his bride. Despite Prometheus's warnings against accepting gifts from the gods, they were still married. Zeus gave Pandora a special wedding gift, but he told her she could never open it. Pandora, ever curious, could not resist taking a peak. When she did so, all the bad things in the world flew out of the box. Pain and disease. Greed and envy. Poverty and war. And so on. Pandora quickly closed the box, but it was too late. At first she thought the box was empty. But still quietly fluttering inside was hope.

When all seems lost, and everything is dark and grim, hope remains.

Did you know?

Mount Elbrus is in the Caucasus Mountain range. At 18,500 feet (5,642 meters) it is the tallest mountain in Russia.

Pandora's box was really a jar. "It only became a box in the sixteenth century, when the Dutch scholar Erasmus mistranslated the ancient Greek word πίθος or pithos ('jar'); Erasmus confused it with another Greek word πυξίς or pyxis ('box'). So it's Erasmus we have to thank for Pandora's 'box', which is more properly a jar." .

Abell 2744, nicknamed Pandora's Cluster, is a giant galaxy cluster resulting from the simultaneous pile-up of at least four separate, smaller galaxy clusters that took place over a span of 350 million years, and is located approximately 4 billion light years from Earth. The galaxies in the cluster make up less than five percent of its mass. The gas (around 20 percent) is so hot that it shines only in X-rays. Dark matter makes up around 75 percent of the cluster's mass.