
The Graces, or Charities, gave her golden necklaces. He also gave her the power of speech, encouraging lies and crafty language. Hermes, the messenger god, gave her shameless thinking and deceit. Meanwhile, Aphrodite granted elegance and longing. Athene reportedly dressed her and taught her needlework. In “Works and Days,” Hesiod mentions other contributions from gods. In “Theogony,” Hesiod says that Athena dresses Pandora in a beautiful silvery gown, an embroidered veil, a crown, and garlands. Her creation ended the Golden Age of Man, starting a new era for humanity. He used clay to create a maiden-like figure modelled after immortal goddesses. The blacksmith of the gods threw himself into his work. She was to be beautifully evil and have descendants that would torment humans forever. The king of Mount Olympus wanted to create the first woman. Later, Hesiod expanded the myth in “Works and Days.”Īccording to Hesiod, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to build a creature with numerous beguiling and seducing gifts.

He talks about her in “ Theogony.” However, he doesn’t mention her name or go into great detail about her life. The first accounts of Pandora’s creation come from Hesiod. So, he commissioned the design of a seducing gift that would plague humanity for the rest of time. Zeus wanted to balance the new acquisition of fire and art.

But once again, Epimetheus evaded discipline even though he created the problem in the first place.īy most accounts, the creation of Pandora was a direct reaction to Prometheus’ sins. Zeus was not happy and ended up punishing Prometheus with eternal torture. The Titan gave humans those attributes, putting them at the top of the food chain. So, he stole fire from Mount Olympus and transported it back to Earth in a fennel stack. But, Prometheus could not let that happen. Zeus was ready to unleash humans into the world defenseless and without any skills. When he came to humans, he realized no attributes were left.

However, Epimetheus had a severe lack of foresight. Prometheus frequently checked on his brother before unleashing the animals onto Earth. Zeus wanted to populate the world with animals and humans, so he tasked the brothers to assign attributes to all living creators.Įpimetheus took care of most of the job, making some animals predators, others burrowers, and so on. Instead of penalizing them, he made them benefactors of humans. While Zeus punished other Titans for their role in the Divine war, she spared Prometheus and Epimetheus. The two Titan brothers did not participate in the Titanomachy. However, the most commonly referenced reason for Pandora’s creation is Prometheus and Epimetheus. Some scholars believe that he sought to punish humans due to their increasingly troublesome behaviour. There are a couple of potential reasons why Zeus ordered her creation. She was a creation of the gods, starting as an idea from Zeus. To understand how Pandora came to be, we have to look back further before she came into existence. It’s also notable for marking the end of the Golden Age of Man and causing a new era of human suffering. It’s a story that portrays the power of the gods and explains the purpose of evil in the world. While many have heard or even used this phrase before, few know the origins.īelieve it or not, this phrase goes back to ancient Greek times! The parable of Pandora is a classic tale in Greek mythology.

Many people are familiar with the concept of “opening Pandora’s box of trouble.” The common idiom means to do something that causes problems that did not exist before.
