The Myth Of Pandora’s Box

                                                         The Myth Of Pandora's Box

     Curiosity: a blessing, or a curse? The paradoxical nature of this trait was personified for the ancient Greeks in the mythical figure of Pandora. According to legend, she was the first mortal woman, whose blazing curiosity set a chain of earth-shattering events in motion. 

Pandora was breathed into being by Hephaestus, God of Fire, who enlisted the help of his divine companions to make her extraordinary. From Aphrodite she received the capacity for deep motion; from Hermes she gained mastery over language. Athena gave the gift of fine craftmanship and attention to detail, and Hermes gave her the name 'Pandora'. Finally, Zeus bestowed two gifts on Pandora. The first was the trait of curiosity, which settled in her spirit and sent her eagerly out into the world. The second was a heavy box, ornately curved, heavy to hold- and screwed tightly shut. But, the contents, Zeus told her, were not for mortal eyes. She was not to open the box under any circumstance. 

On earth, Pandora met and fell in love with Epimetheus, a talented titan who had been given the task of designing the natural world by Zeus. He had work alongside, his brother Prometheus, He created the first humans but was eternally punished for giving them fire. Epimetheus missed his brother desperately, but in Pandora she found another fiery-hearted soul for companionship. Pandora brimmed with excitement at life on earth. She was also easily distracted and could be impatient, given her thirst for knowledge and desire to question her surroundings. 

Often, her mind wandered to the contents of the sealed box. What treasure was so great it could never be seen by human eyes, and why was it in her care? Her fingers itched to pry it open. Sometimes, she was convinced she heard voices whispering and contents rattling around inside, as if straining to be free. Its enigma became maddening. 

Over time, Pandora became more and more obsessed with the box. It seemed there was a force behind her control that drew her to the contents, which echoed her name louder and louder. 

One day she could bear it no longer. Stealing away from Epimetheus, she stared at the mystifying box. She'd take one glance inside, then be able to read her mind off it forever....But at the first crack of the lid, the box burst open.

Monstrous creatures and horrendous sounds rushed out in a cloud of smoke and swirled around her, screeching and cackling. Filled with terror Pandora clawed desperately at the air to direct them back into the prison. But the creatures surged out in a gruesome cloud. She felt a wave of foreboding as they billowed away. Zeus had used the box as a vessel for all the force of evil and suffering he'd created- and once released they were uncontainable. As she wept Pandora became aware of a sound echoing from within the box. This was not the eerie whispering of demons, but a light twinkled that seemed to ease her anguish. When she once again lifted the box, the lid and peered in, a warm being of light rose out and fluttered away. As she watched it flickering in the wake of the evil she'd unleashed, Pandora's pain was eased. She knew that opening of the box was irreversible- but alongside the strife, she'd set hope forth to temper its effect. 

Today, Pandora's box suggests the extreme consequences of tampering with unknown- but Pandora's burning curiosity also suggests the duality that lies at the heart of human inquiry.