Pandora Kept Hope in the Jar

We are all familiar with the story of Pandora’s Box. Even if you don’t know the entire ancient Greek parable, you likely know it means the start of many negative events about to occur. One important detail that is left out of the idiom is the fact that Pandora quickly closed the lid before Hope could escape. Some interpret that to add to how horrible Pandora was to unleash chaos on mankind and then reserve hope. But what if she was trying to save mankind? It was, after all, an angry male who loaded the jar (it was a jar, not a box, in Hesiod’s original poem). Zeus was angry at Prometheus (also male, but human) for his deception and selfishness. So Zeus decided to punish him, and all of mankind. Here is where it gets sticky. Zeus sends a woman to live among the men. She is beautiful, irresistible, and all of the things a wicked temptress would need to be scapegoated as the cause of all of man’s misery.

Another famous scapegoat is of course Eve. But what if Eve’s curiosity was basically just critical thinking. We cannot stay in this Garden, sheltered from harm under God’s care forever. Where would we be if it were not for her bravery? Nothing would need to be invented, no progress would have been made. We might have remained babies in the womb, rather than grown-ups who have to deal with and overcome hardships so we can grow. Thanks for being the grown-up, Eve.

And as for Pandora, unless you studied the classics, you may not know that there is another interpretation of the story. Lest we forget, Hesiod’s poem has been translated across generations of cultures and languages. In one version, the jar contained only good things. And due to Prometheus’s bad behavior, when Pandora removed the jar of the lid, Zeus took all of the good things back to live with the gods, and Pandora slammed it shut just in time to save Hope for mankind. Ta-Da! What about this version? The woman preserves one last good thing: Hope for humanity that they shall overcome the challenges of this world. Thanks, Pandora. Fun fact: Pandora means “all giving.”

Women have been historically and universally blamed for all of the sins and evil in this world, at least in the Western canon. History thus far has been just that – HIStory – herodriven tales of power struggles and conquest. How might HERstory have shaped us? Would we value connection and community more highly? Fortunately, the last 150 years has seen an awakening of female voices working our way into the historical narrative. And I am excited to one day add to the chorus of women’s voices in telling stories from a different perspective. I continue to work on my novel about the second wife of Henry Flagler as told from her perspective. All we know is that she “became hysterical” and was “incurably insane” and spent the last 30 years of her life in a sanitarium, while her billionaire husband remarried a woman half his age. It’s a novel in progress, and I hope to have it out soon!

“History isn’t what happened. It’s who tells the story.” – Sally Roesch Wagner