Pandora's Box
Many years ago, Prometheus made men from clay. He taught them many things, and was always trying to help them. In the early days, humans had a hard time finding enough food to live, but that didn't stop Zeus and the other gods demanding constant sacrifices.
Wanting to help, Prometheus managed to convince Zeus to allow the humans to sacrifice only part of their animals, but an argument broke out: which part belonged to the gods, and which to men?
So Prometheus prepared two sacrifices: one with the best parts of a bull's meat wrapped in its stomach, and one with just the bones of the bull covered in a few juicy slices of meat. He asked Zeus to choose which one he preferred, and, because he was fooled, Zeus chose the bones. Zeus was angered by this, and took from men the knowledge of fire - this meant they shivered at night, and had only raw food to eat!
Prometheus took pity on the men, and, when the gods were sleeping, he lit a giant fennel stalk using the rays of the sun, and carried it down to the humans. He then showed them how to share the fire amongst themselves, how to cook, and how to fashion metal tools so they could look after themselves. When Zeus found out, he vowed to take vengeance on Prometheus for giving fire, and on men for accepting it!
Prometheus knew that the gods were malicious, so he forewarned his brother: "don't take anything from the gods - they can't be trusted!"
For Prometheus, Zeus devised a horrible punishment: he had Hephaestus bind him to a rock with unbreakable chains, then sent an eagle to come and peck out his liver. But Prometheus was immortal, which meant every night when the eagle left, his body would heal and the eagle could come back the next day and peck out his liver again!
For men, Zeus had something even worse. Until now, there were no women on the earth, only men. So Zeus ordered Hephaestus to make a woman out of clay, and she was brought to life by the four winds. Athena gave her luxurious clothing, Aphrodite gave her stunning beauty, Hermes gave her wise speech, and the end result was so perfect that the gods named her Pandora, which means "all-gifted."
The gods then presented Pandora as a wife for Prometheus's brother, Epimetheus, who was so swept away by her beauty and charm that he forgot his brother's warning. Along with Pandora came a mysterious and beautiful box, which was a special wedding gift from Zeus, but he had warned Pandora never to open it.
But soon Pandora's natural curiosity got the better of her, and Pandora decided it couldn't hurt to take a peek inside the box. But as soon as she cracked it open just a little, out burst all the pain, all the evil, and all the sickness that ever existed, and spread over the world. As much as she tried, she couldn't shut the box until everything escaped, including one tiny little spirit that represented hope. This means that no matter how many hardships we face, we always have the glimmer of hope.
Pandora remembered the warning from Zeus that she should never open the box, and she was worried that he would be very angry with her. But the truth was that he planned for all this happen all along - Zeus had finally gotten his revenge.
And Prometheus? Well, he stayed in his torment for a very long time. Eventually, though, Heracles came to rescue him - but that's a story for another time...
