Pandora's box in the context of "Pandora"

⭐ In the context of Pandora, the name Anesidora, inscribed on ancient artwork, is most accurately understood to mean…

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⭐ Core Definition: Pandora's box

Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem Works and Days. Hesiod related that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing curses upon mankind. Later depictions of the story have been varied, with some literary and artistic treatments focusing more on the contents than on Pandora herself.

The container mentioned in the original account was actually a large storage jar, but the word was later mistranslated. In modern times an idiom has grown from the story meaning "Any source of great and unexpected troubles", or alternatively "A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse".

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👉 Pandora's box in the context of Pandora

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground kylix in the British Museum—is Anesidora (Ancient Greek: Ἀνησιδώρα), "she who sends up gifts" (up implying "from below" within the earth).

The Pandora myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world, according to which, Pandora opened a jar (pithos; commonly referred to as "Pandora's box") releasing all the evils of humanity. It has been argued that Hesiod's interpretation of Pandora's story went on to influence both Jewish and Christian theology and so perpetuated her bad reputation into the Renaissance. Later poets, dramatists, painters and sculptors made her their subject.

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Pandora's box in the context of Hesiod

Hesiod (/ˈhiːsiəd/ HEE-see-əd or /ˈhɛsiəd/ HEH-see-əd; Ancient Greek: Ἡσίοδος Hēsíodos; fl. c. 700 BC) was an Ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.

Several of Hesiod's works have survived in their entirety. Among these are Theogony, which tells the origins of the gods, their lineages, and the events that led to Zeus's rise to power, and Works and Days, a poem that describes the five Ages of Man, offers advice and wisdom, and includes myths such as Pandora's box.

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Pandora's box in the context of Epimetheus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Epimetheus (/ɛpɪˈmiːθiəs/ ; Ancient Greek: Ἐπιμηθεύς, lit. 'afterthought') is the brother of Prometheus, the pair serving "as representatives of mankind". Both sons of the Titan Iapetus, while Prometheus ("foresight") is ingeniously clever, Epimetheus ("hindsight") is inept and foolish. In some accounts of the myth, Epimetheus unleashes the unforeseen troubles in Pandora's box.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Hesiod ← Pandora ← Epimetheus (mythology) ← Epimetheus
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Lawrence Alma-Tadema → Pithos → Crete → Louvre → Greek mythology → Pandora → Hesiod → Works and Days → Container → Curse → Jar →