What is the Pandora Myth All About?

By Sandra Geyer Miller, MA

Pandora was created as the revenge of Zeus for the theft of fire by Prometheus. Prometheus (fore-thought) and his brother Epimetheus (after-thought) were Titans. Prometheus had remained neutral during the revolt of the Titans against the Olympians and thus had been admitted to the circle of Immortals by Zeus. Seeing that the race of men had been destroyed in the deluge, it was Prometheus who fashioned another prototype man, into whom Athena, the favored daughter of Zeus, breathed soul and life.

As long as Cronus had reigned, gods and men had lived on terms of mutual understanding. In the cool of the evening the gods might wander down to earth and sit down together with men to partake of the supper. With the coming of the Olympians, everything changed. Zeus asserted his divine supremacy.

Although Prometheus was now an Immortal he harbored a grudge against the destroyers and favored mortals to the detriment of the gods. He tricked Zeus into choosing the fat-covered bones as the part of the sacrifice for the gods, leaving the best meat for mortals. Zeus, in his anger, withheld fire from man. Prometheus stole the forbidden fire and gave it to the mortals.

Zeus, enraged, called for Hephaestus the forger. He bade him make a virgin woman of dazzling beauty equal to the Olympian goddesses. He requested all of the gods to bring her their especial gifts. Her name was Pandora (anciently called Anesidor, which was one of the names of the earth-goddess), rich in gifts, the all-gifted.

Zeus also ordered a large Pythos (casket) to be made in which were placed the Spites: Old Age, Labor, Sickness, Insanity, Vice, and Passion to plague mankind upon their release. Delusional Hope was placed in the jar to keep men from killing themselves in despair and escaping their full measure of suffering.

Pandora was instructed to take the Holy Vase to earth but not to open the jar (Pythos) under any circumstances. Zeus, of course, had instructed Hermes to put insatiable curiosity into Pandora's mind, perfidy into her heart, and lies into her mouth, thereby sealing the fate.

Pandora, with the Pythos, was taken to earth by Hermes and presented as a gift to Epimetheus. Epimetheus had been fore-warned by Prometheus not to accept any gifts from the gods. Pandora was taken in marriage by Epimetheus and they lived together as man and wife.

Pandora, overcome with curiosity, opened the lid of the jar releasing the Spites into the world. She slammed the lid shut trapping Hope in the rim, where it remains to this day creating delusion, tricking man into a lifetime of darkness and suffering.

The Gifts of the Gods

In order to examine the attributes of the first woman, the gifts of the gods hold the only clues. Aside from the request of Zeus to create a seductive beauty, the gifts of the gods and goddesses are much more profound.

In mythology, gifts are symbols of power and authority. Pandora received many gifts and thus came down to earth well equipped. The patriarchal overlay on the myth has robbed the feminine descendants of Pandora of their birthright, the knowledge of the meaning of the gifts and the power and authority to utilize them effectively. Polly Young-Eisendrath and Florence Wiedemann in their book "Female Authority" describe this overlay:

Personal authority is the ability to validate one's own thoughts and actions as good and true. It develops gradually as others recognize and communicate the value of one's ideas and contributions, both for the family and for the larger group. Our society designates authority symbolically by conferring decision-making influence, social status, and power over material resources. These are typically not associated with women or women's work. . . . Women are described as fearing success, lacking assertiveness, and being emotionally immature and morally inferior. . . . The ability of a woman to validate her own convictions of truth, beauty, and goodness in regard to her self-concept and self-interest is what we call "female authority". Body image, self-confidence, personal agency, social functioning, occupational functioning, sexual pleasure, and subjective self-assessment are all related to female authority. (Young-Eisendrath & Wiedemwnn, 1987, pp. 1-8)

It is time to review and re-envision Pandora's gifts in the light of twenty-first century depth psychology.

The Gifts of Hephaestus

Hephaestus, the limping god, was the blacksmith of Olympus. He was a mighty god with sinewy muscles, shining with sweat, before the great forges on the island of Lemnos. The fatherless son of Hera, engendered by her alone, was born out of revenge for the philandering of Zeus with other goddesses before the official marriage to Hera.

Hephaestus' ties are with the feminine. Hephaestus was the God of work. He was God of the civilizing process, teaching man to leave the forest and the cave for more innovative work in the town and city. He taught man to imitate nature.

Using clay and water, he fashioned the beautiful artifice. The forges and fires of the earth are the artificial womb from which Pandora is born. This Hephaestian passion for creative expression is deeply of the mother. Pandora was not the product of a union with the masculine but through Hephaestus, the most primordial feminine influences of nature are mimicked and made real.

In addition to the gift of life, Hephaestus fashioned a golden crown, which was placed on Pandora's head by Athene. On this shining masterpiece were carved all of the creatures of the land and sea. They were complete with voices and movement, an animated world of instinctual and natural energies. It was a crown for an earth goddess (Rhea Pandora), the first woman, Queen of nature, and a symbol of fertility and seasonal life.

To know one's own Hephaestian gift for creating is to know that it lies within the ground of one's nature. It is a part of one's psyche that wants to express itself.

The Gifts of Aphrodite

Excerpt from the synthesized translation of the Sixth Homeric Hymn:

Revered, golden-crowned, and beautiful Aphrodite

is whom I shall sing,

whose dominion is the walled cities

of all sea-set Cyprus,

where the water force of the western wind, breathing

bore her over the waves of the much-resounding sea

in soft foam.

And the Hours in their golden diadems

received her with joy,

clothed her in ambrosial garments,

and placed a well-wrought crown, beautiful and golden,

on her immortal head

and flowers of copper and precious gold

in the pierced lobes of her ears.

They adorned her delicate neck and silver-white breasts

with necklaces

such as the golden-diademed Hours themselves wear

when they go to the lovely dance

of the gods in the house of the father.

(Friedrich, 1978, p. 58)

Aphrodite was the goddess of love in all its many aspects, from agape (pure, ideal, and divine love) to eros (desire,lust, and venal love). She was born in the foam of the sea after Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw the severed genitals into the water.

Aphrodite's retinue consisted of Eros, the Horae, the Graces, and the Muses. Her gifts to Pandora were the ability to exude an entrancing aura of seduction; breath-taking beauty; divine grace; charm and harmony; un-bridled sensuality; the art of entertaining; the appetite of a whore; the art of adornment; sparkling conversation; and enchanting laughter.

The Gifts of Hermes

Hermes, the illegitimate son of Zeus and Maia, was the god of the wind, the guide, the god of commerce, the watcher-near-the-door, the god of profit - lawful and unlawful - and the god of games. He invented the sports of boxing and racing.

As an infant he invented the musical Lyre, a gift to Apollo to appease his anger over the mischievous theft of his Heifers. He was the god of eloquence, of subtle persuasion, the god Logios. Hermes was the protector of flocks and herds and the protector of travelers, especially the souls of the dead as they made their way to the Underworld. In Hesiod, Hermes is the God who brings to men's hearts the impressions and sentiments which Zeus has inspired.

The gift that Hermes brings to Pandora is the art of subtle persuasion, which by Zeus's design was to be used only for deceit and treachery. This gift of the messenger god was the eloquent speech to be used by the threatening feminine Wile, Pandora, to lead men astray. She was given the ability to influence men and cause them to commit disastrous acts by planting her thoughts into their minds by way of their hearts. This is, however, also the gift which women throughout history have demonstrated so aptly and utilized not only to save themselves but perhaps the whole of all mankind through many millennia.

The Gifts of Athena

Excerpt from a translation of Homer's Odyssey, a scene in which Athena reveals herself in the form of a shepherd boy, to Odysseus, who has been cast ashore for a crime he committed and refuses to identify himself. She comes to him as his intimate friend and wise counselor.

The goddess, grey-eyed Athene, smiled on him,

and stroked him with her hand, and took on the shape of a woman

both beautiful and tall, and well versed in glorious handiworks,

and spoke aloud to him and addressed him in winged words, saying:

"It would be a sharp one, and a stealthy one, who would ever get past

you in any contriving, never weary of tricks, then you would not

even in your own country give over your ways of deceiving

and your thievish tales. They are near to you in your very nature.

But come, let us talk no more of this, for you and I both know

sharp practice, since you are far the best of all mortal

men for counsel and stories, and I among all the divinities

am famous for wit and sharpness; and yet you never recognized

Pallas Athene, daughter of Zeus, the one who is always

standing beside you and guarding you in every endeavor...."...

"Always you are the same, and such is the mind within you,

and so I cannot abandon you when you are unhappy,

because you are fluent, and reason closely, and keep you head always......."

(Homer, trans. R. Lattimore, 1965, pp. 205-6)

Athena, the grey-eyed head-sprung daughter of Zeus, is the weaver of Pandora's silvery raiment, the designer of the broidered veil, the maker of the encompassing girdle. She not only adorned Pandora with resplendent finery, taught her the art and craft of needleworking and weaving, but also gave her a soul.

She is the archetype of intelligence, logic, strategy, diplomacy, foresight, planning, mastery of craft, and patience. Athena is the goddess of Civilization, of Wisdom, and of the sacred Olive tree of Athens. She is the patroness of artisans, craftsmen, tradesmen, and male brotherhoods. The crafts of pottery, weaving, ploughing, and measuring were invented by Athena as well as the bridle to harness horses.

Athena developed the political arts of persuasion, trial by jury, ordering, planning, and reason. Athena's emblem is the owl, the wise bird, with keen sight in darkness.

As symbol, Pandora's resplendent garments carry Athena's wisdom, independence, creativity, and art of persuasion. Plato suggests that Athena's weaving is a metaphor for the political process. James Hillman says of Athena's talent:

Inclusion of the excessive and abnormal by weaving it in is the art of political consciousness. Such weaving, as Plato takes great metaphorical pains to establish, is not patching quilts, tacking boards, stitching leather, darning holes. It is not repairing. It is not collage. It is not bricolage, haphazard, without inner necessity. Rather Athene's art is the systematic plaiting of strands together; and as her own person is a combination of Reason and Necessity, her art of combination produces a whole fabric.....integration as ideal norm. (Hillman, 1980, p.28)

It is thought to be Athena who gave Pandora her soul.

With Athena's gifts Pandora is not only able to get her man but she is comfortable in the midst of male action and power. She can be the mentor, the peer or the confidant. She is the rational technologist. She can see the big picture, conceptualize a working plan, and step by step manifest her idea. She can master her craft. She can don the armor of the impersonal. She speaks directly, forcefully, and persuasively.

Politically, she is astute, a professional stateswoman. Athena's gifts allow Pandora to keep a cool head, play her hand close to her chest, and make her moves at the right moment. Pandora is at home in the city and aspires to more and more power and achievement in her chosen career. She can give wise counsel and her input is sought on important matters. She can drive her own chariot with horses that are controlled with a bridle of her own invention.

The Gifts of the Horae and the Graces

The Greek word from which the Horae (hours) derive their name signifies a period of time which can be applied equally to the year, the seasons, and the hours of the day. The three Horae were daughters of Zeus and Themis and were named Eunomia, Dike and Irene. They were guardians of the order of nature, as well as the moral order. Eunomia guarded the observation of the laws, Dike monitored justice, and Irene promoted peace.

The Horae were also the protectors of youth, who swaddled Hermes at his birth and wove garlands to shelter him. They received Dionysus as he emerged from Zeus's thigh. On Olympus, it was their duty to guard the gates of heaven, which they opened or closed by removing or replacing a thick cloud.

They were charming maidens with beautiful hair, golden diadems and a light footstep. They loved to dance in company with the Graces, and thus formed part of the retinue of Aphrodite. They appear in Homeric poems, where they can be seen harnessing Hera's chariot to the celestial steeds to which they feed ambrosia.

It was the Horae who enhanced Pandora's attractions by embellishing her hair with floral garlands and herbs to awaken desire in the hearts of men (golden grace). Thus Pandora wore the fruits and flowers of the seasons, bedecked with nature's finest perfumed offerings. She is, herself, the most delectable offering in perfect timing, a "natural" gift.

She is the first earth woman, with her cyclic nature and ability to move in tune with the tides and seasons. Pandora is the symbol of birth and death. By her, a man enters and leaves the physical world. Like the Horae, she is the keeper of the gates. Her gift is that of having an integral sense of timing.

The greek word for grace, "charis", means the "delightfulness of art". Aglaia, the youngest of the Graces, was the wife of Hephaestus. Her name means "the glorious" or Brilliant. Thalia (Flowering) and Euphrosyne (Heart's Joy) were the other two Graces. Older names were Pasithea, Cale, and Euphrosyne which was actually a title of Aphrodite (Pasithea Cale Euphrosyne) meaning "The Goddess of Joy who is Beautiful to All".

The Graces were thought by some to be the daughters of Helios and Aegle, and by others to have been born to the Oceanid Eurynome and fathered by Zeus. These smiling divinities, whose presence spread joy not only in the heavens but also in the hearts of men, are the personification of the sun's rays.

The gifts of the Graces are love, tenderness, beauty, kindness, pleasure, creativity, artistry, and sensuality. They were also considered to be the goddesses of Gratitude which may quickly be forgotten, their mother being Lethe (Oblivion).

The Gifts for the Modern Pandora

With the gifts of the Olympian gods and goddesses, the modern Pandora can weave together strength and vulnerability, creativity and nurturing, passion and discipline, pragmatism and intuition, intellect and imagination. Until she claims them all, until she can live with the "tension of the opposites" (the masculine and feminine polarity), as part of her essence and expression she will not reach her full potential.

© Copyright 1995, Sandra Geyer Miller, MA