Pandora From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Pandora (disambiguation).

Pandora (1861), by Pierre Loison (18161886) In Greek mythology, Pandora (ancient Greek, , derived from "all" and "gift", thus "all-gifted", "all-endowed") was the first woman.[1] As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts. Zeus ordered Hephaestus to mold her out of earth as part of the punishment of mankind for Prometheus' theft of the secret of fire, and all the gods joined in offering her "seductive gifts". Her other name, inscribed against her figure on a white-ground kylix in the British Museum,[2] is Anesidora, "she who sends up gifts,"[3] up implying "from below" within the earth. According to the myth, Pandora opened a jar (pithos), in modern accounts sometimes mistranslated as "Pandora's box" (see below), releasing all the evils of mankind although the particular evils, aside from plagues and diseases, are not specified in detail by Hesiod leaving only Hope inside once she had closed it again.[4] She opened the jar out of simple curiosity and not as a malicious act.[5] The myth of Pandora is ancient, appears in several distinct Greek versions, and has been interpreted in many ways. In all literary versions, however, the myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world. In the seventh century BC, Hesiod, both in his Theogony (briefly, without naming Pandora outright, line 570) and in Works and Days, gives the earliest literary version of the Pandora story; however, there is an older mention of jars or urns containing blessings and evils bestowed upon mankind in Homer's Iliad: The immortals know no care, yet the lot they spin for man is full of sorrow; on the floor of Zeus' palace there stand two urns, the one filled with evil gifts, and the other with good

ones. He for whom Zeus the lord of thunder mixes the gifts he sends, will meet now with good and now with evil fortune; but he to whom Zeus sends none but evil gifts will be pointed at by the finger of scorn, the hand of famine will pursue him to the ends of the world, and he will go up and down the face of the earth, respected neither by gods nor men.[6] Contents [hide] 1 Hesiod's Theogony 2 Hesiod's Works and Days 3 Later embellishments 4 Difficulties of interpretation 5 Pithos into "box" 6 All-giving Pandora: a mythic inversion 7 Pandora's relationship to Eve of the Genesis account 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links [edit] Hesiod's Theogony

Jules Joseph Lefebvre: Pandora, 1882 The Pandora myth first appears in lines 560612 of Hesiod's poem in epic meter, the Theogony (ca. 8th7th centuries BC), without ever giving the woman a name. After humans received the stolen gift of fire from Prometheus, an angry Zeus decides to give men a punishing gift to compensate for the boon they had been given. He commands Hephaestus to mold from earth the first woman, a "beautiful evil" whose descendants would torment the race of men. After Hephaestus does so, Athena dresses her in a silvery gown, an embroidered veil, garlands and an ornate crown of gold. This woman goes

unnamed in the Theogony, but is presumably Pandora, whose myth Hesiod revisited in Works and Days. When she first appears before gods and mortals, "wonder seized them" as they looked upon her. But she was "sheer guile, not to be withstood by men." Hesiod elaborates (59093): From her is the race of women and female kind: of her is the deadly race and tribe of women who live amongst mortal men to their great trouble, no helpmates in hateful poverty, but only in wealth. Hesiod goes on to lament that men who try to avoid the evil of women by avoiding marriage will fare no better (6047): He reaches deadly old age without anyone to tend his years, and though he at least has no lack of livelihood while he lives, yet, when he is dead, his kinsfolk divide his possessions amongst them. Hesiod concedes that occasionally a man finds a good wife, but still (609) "evil contends with good." [edit] Hesiod's Works and Days The more famous version of the Pandora myth comes from another of Hesiod's poems, Works and Days. In this version of the myth (lines 60105), Hesiod expands upon her origin, and moreover widens the scope of the misery she inflicts on mankind. As before, she is created by Hephaestus, but now more gods contribute to her completion (6382): Athena taught her needlework and weaving (634); Aphrodite "shed grace upon her head and cruel longing and cares that weary the limbs" (656); Hermes gave her "a shameful mind and deceitful nature" (678); Hermes also gave her the power of speech, putting in her "lies and crafty words" (7780) ; Athena then clothed her (72); next she, Persuasion and the Charites adorned her with necklaces and other finery (724); the Horae adorned her with a garland crown (75). Finally, Hermes gives this woman a name: Pandora "All-gifted" "because all the Olympians gave her a gift" (81).[7] In this retelling of her story, Pandora's deceitful feminine nature becomes the least of mankind's worries. For she brings with her a jar or, in most stories, a box [8][9] containing[10] "burdensome toil and sickness that brings death to men" (912), diseases (102) and "a myriad other pains" (100). Prometheus had (fearing further reprisals) warned his brother Epimetheus not to accept any gifts from Zeus. But Epimetheus did not listen; he accepted Pandora, who promptly scattered the contents of her jar. As a result, Hesiod tells us, "the earth and sea are full of evils" (101). One item, however, did not escape the jar (969), hope: Only Hope was left within her unbreakable house, she remained under the lip of the jar, and did not fly away. Before [she could], Pandora replaced the lid of the jar. This was the will of aegis-bearing Zeus the Cloudgatherer. Hesiod does not say why hope (elpis) remained in the jar.[11] Hesiod closes with this moral (105): "Thus it is not possible to escape the mind of Zeus." [edit] Later embellishments Archaic and Classic Greek literature seem to make no further mention of Pandora, though Sophocles wrote a satyr play Pandora, or The Hammerers of which virtually nothing is known. Sappho may have made reference to Pandora in a surviving fragment.[12]

Later mythographers filled in minor details or added postscripts to Hesiod's account. For example, Apollodorus and Hyginus each make explicit what might be latent in the Hesiodic text: Epimetheus married Pandora. They each add that they had a daughter, Pyrrha, who married Deucalion and survived the deluge with him. However, the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, fragment #5, had made a "Pandora" one of the daughters of Deucalion, and the mother of Graecus by Zeus. The 15th-century monk Annio da Viterbo credited a manuscript he claimed to have found to the Chaldean historian of the 3rd century BC, Berossus, where "Pandora" was also named as a daughter-in-law of Noah; this attempt to conjoin pagan and scriptural narrative is recognized as a forgery. In a major departure from Hesiod, the 6th-century BC Greek elegiac poet Theognis of Megara tells us:[13] Hope is the only good god remaining among mankind; the others have left and gone to Olympus. Trust, a mighty god has gone, Restraint has gone from men, and the Graces, my friend, have abandoned the earth. Mens judicial oaths are no longer to be trusted, nor does anyone revere the immortal gods; the race of pious men has perished and men no longer recognize the rules of conduct or acts of piety. Theognis seems to be hinting at a myth in which the jar contained blessings rather than evils. In this, he appears to follow a possibly pre-Hesiodic tradition, preserved by the second-century fabulist Babrius,[14] that the gods sent a jar containing blessings to humans. A "foolish man" (not Pandora) opened the jar, and most of the blessings were lost forever. Only hope remained, "to promise each of us the good things that fled." An independent Pandora tradition that does not square with any of the literary sources is the tradition in the visual repertory of Attic red-figure vase-painters, which sometimes supplements, sometimes ignores, the written testimony; in these representations the upper part of Pandora is visible rising from the earth, "a chthonic goddess like Gaia herself."[15] Sometimes,[16] but not always, she is labeled Pandora. [edit] Difficulties of interpretation

John William Waterhouse: Pandora, 1896 Historic interpretations of the Pandora figure are rich enough to have offered Erwin Panofsky scope for monographic treatment.[17] M. L. West writes that the story of Pandora and her jar is from a pre-Hesiodic myth, and that this explains the confusion and problems with Hesiod's version and its inconclusiveness.[18] He writes that in earlier myths, Pandora was married to Prometheus, and cites the ancient Hesiodic Catalogue of Women as preserving this older tradition, and that the jar may have at one point contained only good things for mankind. He also writes that it may have been that Epimetheus and Pandora and their roles were transposed in the pre-Hesiodic myths, a "mythic inversion". He remarks that there is a curious correlation between Pandora being made out of earth in Hesiod's story, to what is in Apollodorus that Prometheus created man from water and earth.[18][19] Hesiod's myth of Pandora's jar, then, could be an amalgam of many variant early myths. In Hesiodic scholarship, the interpretive crux has endured:[20] Is the imprisonment of hope inside a jar full of evils for mankind a benefit for mankind, or a further bane? A number of mythology textbooks echo the sentiments of M. L. West: "[Hope's retention in the jar] is comforting, and we are to be thankful for this antidote to our present ills."[21] Some scholars such as Mark Griffith, however, take the opposite view: "[Hope] seems to be a blessing withheld from men so that their life should be the more dreary and depressing."[22] One's interpretation hangs on two related questions: First, how are we to render elpis, the Greek word usually translated as "hope"? Second, does the jar preserve Elpis for men, or keep Elpis away from men? The first question might confuse the non-specialist. But as with most ancient Greek words, elpis can be translated a number of ways. A number of scholars prefer the neutral translation of "expectation." But expectation of what? Classical authors use the word

elpis to mean "expectation of bad," as well as "expectation of good." Statistical analysis demonstrates that the latter sense appears five times more than the former in all of ancient Greek literature.[23] Others hold the minority view that elpis should be rendered, "expectation of evil" (vel sim).[24] How one answers the first question largely depends on the answer to the second question: should we interpret the jar to function as a prison, or a pantry?[25] The jar certainly serves as a prison for the evils that Pandora released they only affect mankind once outside the jar. Some have argued that logic dictates, therefore, that the jar acts as a prison for Elpis as well, withholding it from men.[26] If one takes elpis to mean expectant hope, then the myth's tone is pessimistic: All the evils in the world were scattered from Pandora's jar, while the one potentially mitigating force, Hope, remains locked securely inside.[27] This interpretation raises yet another question, complicating the debate: are we to take Hope in an absolute sense, or in a narrow sense where we understand Hope to mean hope only as it pertains to the evils released from the jar? If Hope is imprisoned in the jar, does this mean that human existence is utterly hopeless? This is the most pessimistic reading possible for the myth. A less pessimistic interpretation (still pessimistic, to be sure) understands the myth to say: countless evils fled Pandora's jar and plague human existence; the hope that we might be able to master these evils remains imprisoned inside the jar. Life is not hopeless, but each of us is hopelessly human.[28] It is also argued that hope was simply one of the evils in the jar, the false kind of hope, and was no good for mankind, since, later in the poem, Hesiod writes that hope is empty (498) and no good (500) and makes mankind lazy by taking away his industriousness, making him prone to evil.[29] In Human, All Too Human, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that "Zeus did not want man to throw his life away, no matter how much the other evils might torment him, but rather to go on letting himself be tormented anew. To that end, he gives man hope. In truth, it is the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment."[30] An objection to the hope is good/the jar is a prison interpretation counters that, if the jar is full of evils, then what is expectant hope a blessing doing among them? This objection leads some to render elpis as the expectation of evil, which would make the myth's tone somewhat optimistic: although humankind is troubled by all the evils in the world, at least we are spared the continual expectation of evil, which would make life unbearable.[24] The optimistic reading of the myth is expressed by M. L. West. Elpis takes the more common meaning of expectant hope. And while the jar served as a prison for the evils that escaped, it thereafter serves as a residence for Hope. West explains, "It would be absurd to represent either the presence of ills by their confinement in a jar or the presence of hope by its escape from one."[31] Hope is thus preserved as a benefit for humans.[32] [edit] Pithos into "box"

A pithos from Crete, ca. 675 BC (Louvre Museum)

Main article: Pandora's box The mistranslation of pithos, a large storage jar, as "box"[33] is usually attributed to the sixteenth century humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam when he translated Hesiod's tale of Pandora into Latin. Hesiod's pithos refers to a large storage jar, often half-buried in the ground, used for wine, oil or grain.[34] It can also refer to a funerary jar.[35] Erasmus, however, translated pithos into the Latin word pyxis, meaning "box".[36] The phrase "Pandora's box" has endured ever since. [edit] All-giving Pandora: a mythic inversion The etymology of Pandora's name, "all-gifted" provided in Works and Days is an incorrect folk etymology[citation needed]. Pandora properly means "all-giving" rather than "allgifted."[citation needed] Certain vase paintings dated to the 5th century BC likewise indicate that the pre-Hesiodic myth of the goddess Pandora endured for centuries after the time of Hesiod. An alternate name for Pandora attested on a white-ground kylix (ca. 460 BC) is Anesidora, which similarly means "she who sends up gifts."[37] This vase painting clearly depicts Hephaestus and Athena putting the finishing touches on the first woman, as in the Theogony. Written above this figure (a convention in Greek vase painting) is the name Anesidora. More commonly, however, the epithet anesidora is applied to Gaea or Demeter.

An Attic pyxis, 440430 BC (British Museum) This connection of Pandora to Gaea and Demeter through the name Anesidora provides a clue as to Pandora's evolution as a mythic figure. In classical scholarship it is generally posited thatfor female deities in particularone or more secondary mythic entities sometimes "splinter off" (so to speak) from a primary entity, assuming aspects of the original in the process. The most famous example of this is the putative division of all the aspects of the so-called Great Goddess into a number of goddesses with more specialized functionsGaea, Demeter, Persephone, Artemis and Hecate among them. Pandora appears to be just such a product of this process.[citation needed] In a previous incarnation now lost to us, Pandora/Anesidora would have taken on aspects of Gaea and Demeter. She would embody the fertility of the earth and its capacity to bear grain and fruits for the benefit of humankind.[38] Jane Ellen Harrison[39] turned to the repertory of vase-painters to shed light on aspects of myth that were left unaddressed or disguised in literature. The story of Pandora was repeated on Greek ceramics. On a fifth century amphora in the Ashmolean Museum (her fig.71) the half-figure of Pandora emerges from the ground, her arms upraised in the epiphany gesture, to greet Epimetheus.[40] A winged ker with a fillet

hovers overhead: "Pandora rises from the earth; she is the Earth, giver of all gifts," Harrison observes.

Nicolas Rgnier: Allegory of Vanity Pandora, c. 1626. Rgnier portrayed Pandora with a jar, not a box. Over time this "all-giving" goddess somehow devolved into an "all-gifted" mortal woman. T. A. Sinclair, commenting on Works and Days[41] argues that Hesiod shows no awareness of the mythology of such a divine "giver". A.H. Smith,[42] however, notes that in Hesiod's account Athena and the Seasons brought wreaths of grass and spring flowers to Pandora, indicating that Hesiod was conscious of Pandora's original "all-giving" function. Jane Ellen Harrison sees in Hesiod's story "evidence of a shift from matriarchy to patriarchy in Greek culture. As the life-bringing goddess Pandora is eclipsed, the death-bringing human Pandora arises."[43] Thus Harrison concludes "in the patriarchal mythology of Hesiod her great figure is strangely changed and diminished. She is no longer Earth-Born, but the creature, the handiwork of Olympian Zeus." (Harrison 1922:284). Robert Graves, quoting Harrison,[44] asserts of the Hesiodic episode that "Pandora is not a genuine myth, but an anti-feminist fable, probably of his own invention." H.J. Rose wrote that the myth of Pandora is decidedly more illiberal than that of epic in that it makes Pandora the origin of all of Man's woes with her being the exemplification of the bad wife.[45] The Hesiodic myth did not, however, completely obliterate the memory of the all-giving goddess Pandora. A scholium to line 971 of Aristophanes' The Birds mentions a cult "to Pandora, the earth, because she bestows all things necessary for life".[46] In fifth-century Athens, Pandora made a prominent appearance in what, at first, appears an unexpected context, in a marble relief or bronze appliqus as a frieze along the base of the Athena Parthenos, the culminating experience on the Acropolis. Jeffrey M. Hurwit has interpreted her presence there as an "anti-Athena." Both were motherless, and reinforced via opposite means the civic ideologies of patriarchy and the "highly gendered social and political realities of fifth-century Athens"[46] - Athena by rising above her sex to defend it, and Pandora by embodying the need for it. Meanwhile, Pausanias (i.24.7) merely noted the subject and moved on. Pandora's relationship to Eve of the Genesis account

Numerous similarities exist between the Pandora of Greek mythology and Eve of the Judaic book of Genesis. Both stories include an account of: The divine creation of the first woman. Disobedience to a divine command by that first woman. A great calamity experienced by all mankind brought on by this woman's disobedience to a divine command, and An attempt at explaining the origin of all resulting suffering and evil subsequently experienced by mankind. Bine i ru, prin Pandora. Sperana (I) Posted on December 3rd, 2010 by Mirella Atunci cnd, n general, se amintete ori se face trimitere la aceast legend, pe scurt se spune Cutia Pandorei. Uneori Mitul Pandorei. Doar c acel obiect i-a fost nmnat acesteia ca dar de nunt, de ctre Zeus sau din partea lui, cu condiia de a nu fi niciodat deschis. C l-a deschis Pandora ori Epimeteu, din nou variaiuni exist, unii ce vd curiozitatea ca un apanaj strict feminin ar fi de partea primei variante ns i excepii exist, nu asta are importan ci anume ce se gsea n acel dar, care lucruri au apucat a se elibera de acolo i ce a rmas, mai ncet n micri fiind. O vd pe Pandora ca pe o unealt a unui mijloc darul ca pervers iretlic pentru reuita asigurat a rzbunrii mai marelui zeilor de atunci. Att. Rolul ei a luat sfrit, cutia a fost deschis. Numele lui Epimeteu nseamn n grecete care reflecteaz prea trziu. El a luat-o de soie pe Pandora i, astfel, cutia fatal care, dup unii poei antici, s-ar afla la originea tuturor relelor a fost deschis. (Mitologii subiective) Lucrul cel mai echivoc n aceast poveste este sperana. nti, pentru c nu tim de ce zeii au amestecat-o cu relele care au umplut lumea. Apoi, deoarece nu tim de ce au lsat-o tocmai ultima n cutia Pandorei. Cnd Epimeteu i-a dat seama ce se ntmpl, a vrut s nchid cutia, dar era prea trziu. nuntru nu mai era dect sperana (Mitologii subiective) mi pare foarte interesant cum este pus chestiunea cu cine a ieit primul i cine a rmas i de ce anume, or fi aezat zeii unul peste altul toate lucrurile acelea? Sperana prima n cutie iar apoi n straturi frumos i cu grij ordonate toate relele? Ori au fost toate puse la grmad, cum au dat zeii, fr nici o regul, n nici o anume ordine bine calculat i gndit? Ieirea lor n prima variant pare logic, sigur c Sperana, fiind la urm, nu a mai apucat a zbura, capacul fiindu-i trntit n nas dar n cea de-a doua dac toate fuser nghesuite de-a valma n cea cutie, cum de a rmas tocmai ea la urm? De ce? Poate cu un rost anume? Citeam undeva c mai lent fiind n micri nu a reuit a scpa i nu mi-am putut abine un zmbet E o explicaie! Am putea nelege multe i diferite din faptul c a rmas nchis n cutie, depinde de fiecare, nchis fiind ea, Sperana, lumea s-a trezit cu toate relele pe cap i cu astea va rmne dar atunci Zeii se vor fi ales cu o rzbunare i izbnd mult prea rapide, trop facile nu, nu e de ei! Dac ns vedem Sperana ca ultimul lucru PSTRAT n cutie, aadar n odaia lumii ori n pod, nu import, eh, aici ar fi mai interesant, oamenii se aga totui de ceva, pe de alt parte tot Zeii tiu foarte bine c aceasta nu este, la urma urmei, dect o Fata Morgana i i-ar lsa s se agae bine de ea pentru a rde mai stranic la final, repet acum perversitatea i cinismul celor de pe Olimp. Asta din punctul lor de vedere cci oamenii vd lucrurile exact invers i de cele mai multe ori reuesc doar prin Speran, bine, nu doar ci plus ncredere i tenacitate, s i rezolve ce au de rezolvat i

s reueasc! Iar atunci Zeii nu mai au dect a-i ridica plriile n faa oamenilor i eventual a face o reveren onest. Epimeteu repune totul n discuie ndoindu-se c grecii erau ndreptii s considere sperana un ru Poate, n msura n care, alinnd suferina, sperana evit s nfrunte un ru, sare peste el sau l nltur fictiv. Ori, poate n msura n care am avea dreptul s o asemnm cu o Fata Morgana lsat s alerge singur prin deert n numele nostru, obligat s rezolve ea, sperana, ce nu rezolvm noi Sigur c prin sofism orice noiune poate fi ndoliat cu negaia ei. dar toate aceste reticene se gsesc n nsi esena clasicismului. Epimeteu nu face dect s le dezvluie (Mitologii subiective) Modernii i-au dat speranei un atribut nou, o ancor de corabie; cei vechi credeau oare c sperana nu ancoreaz nicieri? Nici Fata Morgana nu se oprete nicieri dect pentru a muri. [...] Unii (Chamfort) pretind c fericirea nu mai vrea s depind de nimic. Ei zic: pentru mine fericirea n-a nceput dect n clipa cnd am pierdut orice speran; nici o dezamgire, nici o primejdie nu mai amenin fericirea nscut din disperare. Dar ce fericire e aceasta? (Mitologii subiective) Dar! mi permit un dar, nu acel da, dar al scepticilor ci un altul pe care Maestrul l-a lsat deoparte, poate pentru c este un alt domeniu, mai bine zis alt zon Exist iniiai reali care au gsit fericirea nu din disperare, ce fericire e aceasta?, nu pierznd sperana ci renunnd la ea (de fapt la dorin, aceasta antrennd luntric sperana, ateptarea i, n cazul eecului, Trauma) iar atunci evident c nici o dezamgire, nici o tristee i nici o traum nu i mai atinge, ei devenind n final liberi. Ce provocare mai mare dect aceasta, ce rspuns mai usturtor, prin reuita lor, prin devenirea lor, dat zeilor de ctre oameni, ar putea exista? Mitul creaiei omului n mitologia greac De la Wikipedia, enciclopedia liber Aceast pagin necesit categorisire. Pagina este insuficient categorisit sau nu a fost inclus n nicio categorie tematic. Deoarece, conform mitologiei greceti, n timpurile strvechi nu existau muritori pe Pmnt, Nemuritorii au decis s creeze fiine care s-i locuiasc. Astfel, Zeus le-a poruncit lui Prometheus i Epimetheus, cei doi fii ai titanului Iapetus, s le druiasc fiinelor pmntene diferite caliti i abiliti. Epimetheus i-a cerut fratelui su s i ingduie lui aceast sarcin i le-a druit oamenilor unuia frumusee, altuia putere, unuia rapiditate, altuia nlime. Nefiind att de inteligent ca i fratele su, le-a druit toate armele naturale animalelor iar pe oameni i-a lsat neputincioi. Cuprins [ascunde] 1 Prometheus 2 Pandora 3 Deukalion i Pyrrha 4 Bibliografie [modificare] Prometheus Pentru a repara aceast greeal, Prometheus, care era un prieten al oamenilor, a furat Inteligena de la Athena i le-a dat oamenilor Raiune. Apoi, a adus focul din atelierul lui

Hephaistos i l-a druit de asemenea oamenilor. Prometheus a avut grij de neamul omenesc i l-a nvat ntreaga sa tiin. Suprat c Prometheus i-a ajutat pe oameni att de mult nct aproape i egalau pe zei i le-a dat focul, care era exclusiv al zeilor, Zeus l-a pedepsit pe acesta trimindu-l la captul pmntului, pe vrful Kaukasos. Zilnic, un vultur i ciugulea ficatul iar noaptea i cretea la loc, doar pentru ca a doua zi vulturul s-l chinuie din nou. [modificare] Pandora Hephaistos, fierarul i zeul focului, a creat n atelierul su prima femeie, care era n faza incipient o statuie de metal. Era ns att de frumoas, nct Zeus a decis s o aduc la via. Fiecare zeu i-a fcut un cadou: frumusee, graie, inteligen, putere de convingere. Pe de alt parte, Hermes i-a dat minciuna i Hera, curiozitatea, care nu a lsat-o nici o clip s stea linitit. Zeus i l-a dat n dar pe Epimetheus. Acesta, fermecat de frumuseea ei, a luat-o de soie. Cadoul de nunt din partea tuturor zeilor a fost o cutie, mpodobit cu aur i pietre preioase, dar nchis. Zeus i-a dat cheia Pandorei i i-a spus s nu deschid vreodat cutia, daca vrea s triasca fericit. Epimetheus i Pandora au trit fericii, ns curiozitatea sdit de Hera n sufletul femeii cretea. n cele din urm, Pandora a deschis cutia i toat Nefericirea i Rutatea s-a rspndit n lume: boli, durere, nenelegere etc. La sfrit, a ieit Sperana ca un semn de consolare pentru oameni. [modificare] Deukalion i Pyrrha De-a lungul timpului, oamenii au devenit tot mai ri. Se purtau nedrept i, astfel, Zeus a decis s-i nece pe toi printr-un potop. Pe rnd s-au scufundat toate oraele. Pentru a pstra totui neamul omenesc, i-a ales pe Deukalion i Pyrrha, singurii oameni buni. S-au salvat ntr-o cutie de lemn i au adus jertf zeilor pentru salvarea lor. i-au acoperit feele i au aruncat pietre n urma lor, fr s priveasc inapoi. Cele aruncate de Deukalion au devenit brbai iar cele aruncate de Pyrrha, femei. Perechea a avut i proprii copii, care au fost considerai copii lui Zeus. Printre acetia se numra i Elena, considerat strmoul elenilor. Pandora (gr. flavSuipa, -ac;; lat. Pandora, -ae). Cea plina de daruri", cea care daruieste totul", Pandora a fost prima femeie si stramoasa sexului feminin al speciei umane. Hefaistos a creat-o din pamnt la porunca lui Zeus, mnios pentru ca Pro-meteu furase focul de la zei si l daruise muritorilor: ca sa-i pedepseasca pe oameni, PANDOROS 632 Zeus i-a cerut lui Hefaistos sa faureasca o fiinta splendida, o femeie careia toti zeii au fost chemati apoi sa-i daruiasca nsusiri deosebite: Afrodita a facut-o ncnta-toare, Atena a nvatat-o mestesugul teserii, Hermes i-a dat siretenia si fatarnicia (vezi si CREATIE). Cnd a fost gata, mbracata n vesminte stralucitoare, purtnd pe cap un val si deasupra o coroana pe care Hefaistos nsusi nchipuise felurite animale, Pandora a fost trimisa pe pamnt, la regele Epime-teu, fratele lui Prometeu. Epimeteu a ramas vrajit si a primit imediat darul, uitnd ca Prometeu i interzisese sa accepte orice ar fi venit de la zei, de teama ca acestia ar fi putut trimite ceva daunator oamenilor. Prea trziu a nteles Epimeteu greseala facuta : Pandora adusese cu ea un vas mare, n care se aflau toate relele ce pot atinge un muritor, iar cnd a ajuns la Epimeteu i-a ridicat capacul: dinauntru au iesit toate nenorocirile, raspndindu-se n lume. Doar speranta a ramas nchisa n vas, pe care Pandora, din porunca lui Zeus, s-a grabit sa-1 nchida. O varianta trzie a mitului

sustinea, dimpotriva, ca acea cutie a Pandorei continea toate binecuvntarile cerului, care le-ar fi fost destinate oamenilor daca Pandora nu le-ar fi lasat sa scape ridicnd capacul. Att varianta mai veche si traditionala a mitului, anterioara cu siguranta lui He-siod chiar daca de la acesta (Teogonia, 567 si urm., Munci si zile, 53 si urm.) ne-a parvenit prima sa relatare completa -, ct si aceea mai recenta vad n femeie sursa irezistibila, mbietoare dar incontrolabila, a tuturor nenorocirilor omenesti. Dincolo de interpretarile propuse mitului Pandorei n raport cu presupusa misoginie a lui Hesiod (dar Hesiod a preluat cu siguranta povestea din surse mai vechi), este interesant de semnalat ca numele Pandorei este si un epitet al pamntului; Pandora este la rndul ei facuta din pamnt, si nu lipsesc marturiile iconografice n care aceasta este reprezentata iesind chiar din pamnt. Daca ntre Pandora si zeita Terra exista o legatura evidenta (un alt epitet al sau este Anesidora, cea care face sa rasara darurile din adncuri", adica zeita care asigura fertilitatea pamntului), originea sa ca opera a lui Hefaistos i confera n acelasi timp caracterul de produs al artei si al activitatii unui demiurg (care n unele versiuni ale mitului nu este Hefaistos -sau nu numai el -, ci poate fi Prometeu, sau Epimeteu, sau vreun satir ori silen). Epitete. Pandora poate fi considerat, asa cum s-a vazut, un epitet al pamntului; interpretarii mai frecvente a numelui cea plina de daruri - i se opune etimologia propusa de Hesiod - darul tuturor zeilor , care este totusi mai rar adoptata. Anesidora este epitetul care o nsoteste ntr-o veche reprezentare pe un vas pictat. Atribute. Snt cele amintite de versurile lui Hesiod: valul de pe cap, drapajul bogat, coroana lui Hefaistos, cingatoarea Atenei si, fireste, vasul, cutia". Prezente n literatura antica. Sursa principala este Hesiod: Teogonia, Munci si zile. Cutia Pandorei din povestirea mitica a devenit proverbiala si n literaturile moderne occidentale. Prezente n literatura moderna si contemporana. Cea mai celebra reevocare a mitului este cea a lu: F. Wedekind din Cutia Pandorei, drama transpusa muzical de A. Berg sub titlul Lulu. Goethe si-a intitulat Pandora o piesa neterminata. Iconografie. n reprezentari - cu precadere pe vase pictate - Pandora este nfatisata iesind din pamnt, potrivit temei tipice a anodos-ului fortelor htoniene si a fecunditatii. nmitologiagreac, Pandora (nlimba greac) a fost prima femeie de pepmnt.Zeusi-a ordonat luiHefaistos, zeul meteugritului, s o creezei aa a ifcut, folosind api pmnt. Zeii au nzestrato cu multe talente;Afroditai-a datfrumusee,Apollotalent muzical,Her mesputere deconvingerei aa mai departe. Deaicii numele su: Pandora, "cu-toate-darurile". Zeusla pus pe Hefaistos sa creeze CutiaPandorei care s conin toate relele depuse de zei: cruzimea (Ares), arogana(Poseidon), suferina/durerea (Hefaistos), vanitatea (Hermes),lcomiai geloziaHerei,pofta trupeasc (Afrodita), ura (Artemis), lcomi(Atena), bolile (Apollo), lenea(Dionis), tristeea(Demetra), teama, nelciuneai subjugarea muritorilor de ctrezei (Zeus)i nu n cele din urm, suferinai moartea (Hades). Sperana ar fi fost depusse pare deHestia, dar cel mai probabil de Atena, fiindzeia nelepciunii.CndPrometeu a fura t focul din Olimp,Zeu s sa rzbuna tducnduio p ePandora lu epimetes,fratele luiPrometeu. s odeschid sub nici o form. mpins de firea sa curioas, Pandor a a deschis cutia,i toaterelele din interior au scpati

s-au mprtiat pe tot pmntul. S-a grbit s i puncapacul, dar totul scpase, excepie fcnd unlucru care sttea la fundul cutiei, acestafiindSperana

Din surse accesibile, cunotinelor eseniale legate de aceast sintagm de sorgintemitologic, care cu siguran nu-i sunt strine dlui inginer, le vom aduga ctevaprecizri i detalii care l-ar putea interesa pe domnia sa, dar i pe ali cititori.Legenda Pandorei (i a cutiei sale) are variante. Cea mai rspndit o prezint dreptprima femeie din lume, creat de Hefaistos, din pmnt i ap, la porunca lui Zeus. Atenai-a dat via, a dotat-o cu deprinderi manuale i a mbrcat-o. La nzestrarea ei cu talentei caliti au fost prtai i ali zei: Afrodita i-a dat frumusee, Apollo talent muzical,Hermes putere de convingere (dup unii, i darul minciunii). Dup ce Prometeu a furatfocul din ceruri pentru a-l drui oamenilor, Zeus a hotrt s-l pedepseasc, iar Pandora adevenit instrumentul sanciunii divine. El i-a druit-o titanului rzvrtit, ns acesta arespins-o. Cea dinti femeie din lume l-a cucerit ns pe fratele lui Prometeu (Epimeteu),care (mai puin nelept, dup cum se zice c ar sugera i numele) nu-i ascult fratele i oia de soie (n alte versiuni, Zeus i-a hrzit-o lui de la nceput). Ca dar de nunt, Pandoraa adus o cutie (un vas) n care zeii nchiseser toate relele i, dei i se interzisese s-odeschid, ea nu i-a putut stpni curiozitatea i a fcut gestul fatal: tot ce era nuntru ascpat i a umplut pmntul. Punnd n grab capacul, a reuit s pstreze n cutie doar Sperana. Conform unei alte versiuni, relele s-au ntors n Olimp, muritorilor rmnndu-le doar Sperana, care n-a mai apucat s ias.Aadar, din mitologia greac s-au rspndit expresii legate de acest mit, sensul cel maifrecvent al conceptului cultural a deschide cutia Pandorei fiind cel care vizeaz risculde a elibera / declana, prin vorbe sau fapte, diverse ruti (adversiti, pericole) cuefecte dezastruoase asupra semenilor. Tot la nivelul nelesurilor ar fi, probabil, de reinutideea (incorect politic, drept care legenda a fost considerat o fabul antifeminist!) arolului de mijloc de pedepsire i de surs a rului destinat femeii (vezi i, n Genez,cderea lui Adam i a Evei), dar, pe de alt parte, i cea a rolului de administrator alSperanei.Ajungnd, n sfrit, la... vorbele propriu-zise, s ne aplecm asupra ctorva.Cuvntul vechi grecesc Pandora se poate traduce prin cu-toate-darurile, el evocndnzestrarea excepional a celei dinti femei. Acelai nume propriu elen este tradus ns(dac se are n vedere posibila lui compunere din alte elemente lexicale apropiate formal)i prin cea care e darul tuturor zeilor, dar i, ntr-o interpretare mai favorabilpersonajului, atotdruitoare.n ceea ce privete cutia sa, lucrurile sunt ceva mai complicate. Cele mai vechi referine spune tot Wikipedia sunt cele din Iliada lui Homer (aproximativ secolele al X-lea alVIII-lea .Hr.) i din Theogonia i poemul didactic Munci i zile ale lui Hesiod (sec.al VII-lea .Hr.); numai c, acolo, cuvntul folosit era pithos, care precizeaz specialitii s-ar putea traduce prin oal, amfor, urn funerar. n secolul al XVI-lea, Erasm dinRotterdam, traducnd n latin povestea lui Hesiod, a folosit cuvntul pyxis cutie,variant care a fcut apoi carier, rspndindu-se n lume: fr. bote de Pandore, engl.Pandoras box etc. Ambiguitile legendei nsei i ale cuvintelor sale cheie sunt sporite i de interpretareaSperanei. Se pare c, n greaca veche, cuvntul Elpis nsemna, deopotriv,

ateptare,premoniie a rului, dar i a binelui. S-a preferat, n traduceri i interpretri, variantapozitiv. Ambiguitile legendei nsei i ale cuvintelor sale cheie sunt sporite i de interpretareaSperanei. Se pare c, n greaca veche, cuvntul Elpis nsemna, deopotriv, ateptare,premoniie a rului, dar i a binelui. S-a preferat, n traduceri i interpretri, variantapozitiv