| Pandora | |
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Other Names |
Pandora, Anesidora |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
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, "she who sends up gifts" (up implying "from below" within the earth).
After humans received the stolen gift of fire from Prometheus, an angry Zeus decides to give humanity 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 human race. After Hephaestus does so, Athena dresses her in a silvery gown, an embroidered veil, garlands and an ornate crown of silver. 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.
In her most famous story, she brings with her a jar (which, due to textual corruption in the sixteenth century, came to be called a box) containing "countless plagues". 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". One item, however, did not escape the jar, hope.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
All published appearances of Pandora before Janurary 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- Theogony
- Works and Days
- Bibliotheca
- Hyginus
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Power Comics #2
- Yellowjacket #9
- New Comics #5