HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

In
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...
, Pandora (
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by
Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...
on the instructions of
Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...
. As
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
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 ( grc, Ἀνησιδώρα), "she who sends up gifts" (''up'' implying "from below" within the earth). The Pandora myth is a kind of
theodicy Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence o ...
, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world, according to which, Pandora opened a jar (''
pithos Pithos (, grc-gre, πίθος, plural: ' ) is the Greek name of a large storage container. The term in English is applied to such containers used among the civilizations that bordered the Mediterranean Sea in the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and ...
'') (commonly referred to as "
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 reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing physi ...
") 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 The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
. Later poets, dramatists, painters and sculptors made her their subject.


Hesiod

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, both in his ''
Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...
'' (briefly, without naming Pandora outright, line 570) and in ''
Works and Days ''Works and Days'' ( grc, Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, Érga kaì Hēmérai)The ''Works and Days'' is sometimes called by the Latin translation of the title, ''Opera et Dies''. Common abbreviations are ''WD'' and ''Op''. for ''Opera''. is a ...
'', gives the earliest version of the Pandora story.


''Theogony''

The Pandora myth first appeared in lines 560–612 of Hesiod's poem in epic meter, the ''
Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...
'' (c. 8th–7th centuries BC), without ever giving the woman a name. After humans received the stolen gift of fire from
Prometheus In Greek mythology, Prometheus (; , , possibly meaning " forethought")Smith"Prometheus". is a Titan god of fire. Prometheus is best known for defying the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to humanity in the form of technology, kn ...
, an angry Zeus decides to give humanity a punishing gift to compensate for the boon they had been given. He commands
Hephaestus Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...
to mold from earth the first woman, a "beautiful evil" whose descendants would torment the human race. After Hephaestus does so,
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...
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. But she was "sheer guile, not to be withstood by men." Hesiod elaborates (590–93):
For 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 helpmeets 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 (604–7):
ereaches 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."


''Works and Days''

The more famous version of the Pandora myth comes from another of Hesiod's poems, ''
Works and Days ''Works and Days'' ( grc, Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, Érga kaì Hēmérai)The ''Works and Days'' is sometimes called by the Latin translation of the title, ''Opera et Dies''. Common abbreviations are ''WD'' and ''Op''. for ''Opera''. is a ...
''. In this version of the myth (lines 60–105), Hesiod expands upon her origin and moreover widens the scope of the misery she inflicts on humanity. As before, she is created by Hephaestus, but now more gods contribute to her completion (63–82):
Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...
taught her
needlework Needlework is decorative sewing and textile arts handicrafts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework. Needlework may include related textile crafts such as crochet, worked with a hook, or tatting, worked wi ...
and
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...
(63–4);
Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...
"shed grace upon her head and cruel longing and cares that weary the limbs" (65–6);
Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orat ...
gave her "a shameless mind and a deceitful nature" (67–8); Hermes also gave her the power of speech, putting in her "lies and crafty words" (77–80); Athena then clothed her (72); next
Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for influence. Persuasion can influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviours. Persuasion is studied in many disciplines. Rhetoric studies modes of persua ...
and the
Charites In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Tha ...
adorned her with necklaces and other finery (72–4); the
Horae In Greek mythology the Horae () or Horai () or Hours ( grc-gre, Ὧραι, Hōrai, , "Seasons") were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time. Etymology The term ''horae'' comes from the Proto-Indo-European ("year"). F ...
adorned her with a garland crown (75). Finally, Hermes gives this woman a name: "Pandora .e. "All-Gift" because all they who dwelt on Olympus gave each a gift, a plague to men who eat bread" (81–2). In this retelling of her story, Pandora's deceitful feminine nature becomes the least of humanity's worries. For she brings with her a jar (which, due to textual corruption in the sixteenth century, came to be called a box) containing "countless plagues" (100). Prometheus had (fearing further reprisals) warned his brother
Epimetheus In Greek mythology, Epimetheus (; grc-gre, Ἐπιμηθεύς, , afterthought) was the brother of Prometheus (traditionally interpreted as "foresight", literally "fore-thinker"), a pair of Titans who "acted as representatives of mankind". They ...
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 (96–9):
Only Hope remained there in an unbreakable home within under the rim of the great jar, and did not fly out at the door; for ere that, the lid of the jar stopped her, by the will of Aegis-holding Zeus who gathers the clouds.
Hesiod does not say why hope (''elpis'') remained in the jar. Hesiod closes with a moral (105): there is " no way to escape the will of Zeus." Hesiod also outlines how the end of man's
Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...
(an all-male society of immortals who were reverent to the gods, worked hard, and ate from abundant groves of fruit) was brought on by Prometheus. When he stole Fire from Mt. Olympus and gave it to mortal man, Zeus punished the technologically advanced society by creating a woman. Thus, Pandora was created and given the jar (mistranslated as 'box') which releases all evils upon man. Archaic and
Classic Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic per ...
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
seem to make little further mention of Pandora, but mythographers later filled in minor details or added postscripts to Hesiod's account. For example, the '' Bibliotheca'' and
Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...
each make explicit what might be latent in the Hesiodic text: Epimetheus married Pandora. They each add that the couple had a daughter, Pyrrha, who married
Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; grc-gre, Δευκαλίων) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene, Hesione, or Pronoia.A scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (='' Catalogue'' fr. 4) reports that Hesiod called Deucal ...
and survived the
deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...
with him. However, the Hesiodic ''
Catalogue of Women The ''Catalogue of Women'' ( grc, Γυναικῶν Κατάλογος, Gunaikôn Katálogos)—also known as the ''Ehoiai '' ( grc, Ἠοῖαι, Ēoîai, )The Latin transliterations ''Eoeae'' and ''Ehoeae'' are also used (e.g. , ); see Title ...
'', fragment #5, had made a "Pandora" one of the ''daughters'' of Deucalion, and the mother of
Graecus __NOTOC__ In Greek mythology, Graecus (; grc, Γραικός, Graikos) was the son of Pandora of Thessaly and Zeus. His mother was the daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and sister of Hellen who together with his three sons Dorus, Xuthus (with his ...
by Zeus. In the 15th-century AD an attempt was made to conjoin pagan and scriptural narrative by the monk Annio da Viterbo, who claimed to have found an account by the ancient Chaldean historian
Berossus Berossus () or Berosus (; grc, Βηρωσσος, Bērōssos; possibly derived from akk, , romanized: , "Bel is his shepherd") was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, a priest of Bel Marduk and astronomer who wrote in the Koine Greek language ...
in which "Pandora" was named as a daughter-in-law of Noah in the alternative Flood narrative.


''Pithos'' into "box"

The mistranslation of ''pithos'', a large storage jar, as "box" is usually attributed to the sixteenth century humanist
Erasmus of Rotterdam Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
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. It can also refer to a funerary jar. Erasmus, however, translated ''pithos'' into the Latin word '' pyxis'', meaning "box". The phrase "Pandora's box" has endured ever since.


Difficulties of interpretation

Historic interpretations of the Pandora figure are rich enough to have offered Dora and
Erwin Panofsky Erwin Panofsky (March 30, 1892 in Hannover – March 14, 1968 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a German-Jewish art historian, whose academic career was pursued mostly in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. Panofsky's work represents a high ...
scope for monographic treatment.
M. L. West Martin Litchfield West, (23 September 1937 – 13 July 2015) was a British philologist and classical scholar. In recognition of his contribution to scholarship, he was awarded the Order of Merit in 2014. West wrote on ancient Greek music, Gree ...
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.West 1978, pp. 165–166. He writes that in earlier myths, Pandora was married to Prometheus, and cites the ancient Hesiodic ''
Catalogue of Women The ''Catalogue of Women'' ( grc, Γυναικῶν Κατάλογος, Gunaikôn Katálogos)—also known as the ''Ehoiai '' ( grc, Ἠοῖαι, Ēoîai, )The Latin transliterations ''Eoeae'' and ''Ehoeae'' are also used (e.g. , ); see Title ...
'' as preserving this older tradition, and that the jar may have at one point contained only good things for humanity. 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 the ''Bibliotheca'' that Prometheus created man from water and earth. Hesiod's myth of Pandora's jar, then, could be an amalgam of many variant early myths. The meaning of Pandora's name, according to the myth provided in ''Works and Days'', is "all-gifted". However, according to others, Pandora more properly means "all-giving". 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 alternative name for Pandora attested on a white-ground kylix (ca. 460 BC) is ''Anesidora'', which similarly means "she who sends up gifts." 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 In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, ...
. In view of such evidence, William E. Phipps has pointed out, "Classics scholars suggest that Hesiod reversed the meaning of the name of an earth goddess called Pandora (all-giving) or Anesidora (one-who-sends-up-gifts). Vase paintings and literary texts give evidence of Pandora as a mother earth figure who was worshipped by some Greeks. The main English commentary on ''Works and Days'' states that Hesiod shows no awareness f this"
Jane Ellen Harrison Jane Ellen Harrison (9 September 1850 – 15 April 1928) was a British classical scholar and linguist. Harrison is one of the founders, with Karl Kerenyi and Walter Burkert, of modern studies in Ancient Greek religion and mythology. She ...
also turned to the repertory of vase-painters to shed light on aspects of myth that were left unaddressed or disguised in literature. On a fifth-century amphora in the
Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University o ...
(her fig.71) the half-figure of Pandora emerges from the ground, her arms upraised in the epiphany gesture, to greet Epimetheus. A winged '' ker'' with a fillet hovers overhead: "Pandora rises from the earth; she ''is'' the Earth, giver of all gifts," Harrison observes. Over time this "all-giving" goddess somehow devolved into an "all-gifted" mortal woman. A.H. Smith, however, noted 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. For Harrison, therefore, Hesiod's story provides "evidence of a shift from
matriarchy Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general ...
to
patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...
in Greek culture. As the life-bringing goddess Pandora is eclipsed, the death-bringing human Pandora arises." Thus, Harrison concludes "in the patriarchal mythology of
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
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 Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celt ...
, quoting Harrison, 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. The Hesiodic myth did not, however, completely obliterate the memory of the all-giving goddess Pandora. A scholium to line 971 of
Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his ...
' '' The Birds'' mentions a cult "to Pandora, the earth, because she bestows all things necessary for life".Jeffrey M. Hurwit, "Beautiful Evil: Pandora and the Athena Parthenos" ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 99.2 (April 1995: 171–186) And in fifth-century Athens, Pandora made a prominent appearance in what, at first, appears an unexpected context, in a marble relief or bronze appliqués as a frieze along the base of the ''
Athena Parthenos The statue of Athena Parthenos ( grc, Παρθένος Ἀθηνᾶ, lit=Athena the Virgin) was a monumental chryselephantine sculpture of the goddess Athena. Attributed to Phidias and dated to the mid-fifth century BCE, it was an offering fr ...
'', the culminating experience on the
Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
. 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 Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males ...
and the "highly gendered social and political realities of fifth-century Athens"—Athena by rising above her sex to defend it, and Pandora by embodying the need for it. Meanwhile,
Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...
(i.24.7) merely noted the subject and moved on.


Artistic representations

Images of Pandora began to appear on Greek pottery as early as the 5th century BC, although identification of the scene represented is sometimes ambiguous. An independent tradition that does not square with any of the Classical literary sources is in the visual repertory of Attic
red-figure Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 520 BCE and remained in use until the late 3rd century BCE. It replaced the previously dominant style of black-figure va ...
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 In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthen ...
herself." Sometimes, but not always, she is labeled ''Pandora''. In some cases the figure of Pandora emerging from the earth is surrounded by figures carrying hammers in what has been suggested as a scene from a
satyr play The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is stro ...
by
Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
, ''Pandora, or The Hammerers'', of which only fragments remain. But there have also been alternative interpretations of such scenes. In the late Pre-Raphaelite painting by
John D. Batten John Dickson Batten (8 October 1860 – 5 August 1932), born in Plymouth, Devon, was an English painter of figures in oils, tempera and fresco and a book illustrator and printmaker. He was an active member of the Society of Painters in Tempera, ...
, hammer-wielding workmen appear through a doorway, while in the foreground Hephaestus broods on the as yet unanimated figure of "Pandora". There were also earlier English paintings of the newly created Pandora as surrounded by the heavenly gods presenting gifts, a scene also depicted on ancient Greek pottery. In one case it was part of a decorative scheme painted on the ceiling at Petworth House by
Louis Laguerre Louis Laguerre (1663 – 20 April 1721) was a French decorative painter mainly working in England. Born in Versailles in 1663 and trained at the Paris Academy under Charles Le Brun, he came to England in 1683, where he first worked with Anto ...
in about 1720. William Etty’s ''Pandora Crowned by the Seasons'' of a century later is similarly presented as an
apotheosis Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The term ha ...
taking place among the clouds. In between these two had come James Barry’s huge ''Birth of Pandora'', on which he laboured for over a decade at the turn of the nineteenth century. Well before that he was working on the design, which was intended to reflect his theoretical writings on the interdependence between history painting and the way it should reflect the ideal state. An early drawing, only preserved now in the print made of it by
Luigi Schiavonetti Luigi Schiavonetti (1 April 1765 – 7 June 1810) was an Italian reproductive engraver and etcher. Life Luigi Schiavonetti was born at Bassano in Venetia. He was the maternal nephew of Teodoro Viero. After having studied art for several ...
, follows the account of Hesiod and shows Pandora being adorned by the Graces and the Hours while the gods look on. Its ideological purpose, however, was to demonstrate an equal society unified by the harmonious function of those within it. But in the actual painting which followed much later, a subordinated Pandora is surrounded by gift-bearing gods and
Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...
stands near her, demonstrating the feminine arts proper to her passive role. The shift is back to the culture of blame whenever she steps outside it. In the individual representations of Pandora that were to follow, her idealisation is as a dangerous type of beauty, generally naked or semi-naked. She is only differentiated from other paintings or statues of such females by being given the attribute of a jar or, increasingly in the 19th century, a straight-sided box. As well as the many European paintings of her from this period, there are examples in sculptures by Henri-Joseph Ruxthiel (1819), John Gibson (1856), Pierre Loison (1861, see above) and Chauncy Bradley Ives (1871).


Pandora's relationship to Eve

There is an additional reason why Pandora should appear nude, in that it was a theological commonplace going back to the early
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
that the Classical myth of Pandora made her a type of Eve. Each is the first woman in the world; and each is a central character in a story of transition from an original state of plenty and ease to one of suffering and death, a transition which is brought about as a punishment for transgression of divine law. It has been argued that it was as a result of the Hellenisation of Western Asia that the
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...
in Hesiod's account of Pandora began openly to influence both Jewish and then Christian interpretations of scripture. The doctrinal bias against women so initiated then continued into Renaissance times. Bishop Jean Olivier's long Latin poem ''Pandora'' drew on the Classical account as well as the Biblical to demonstrate that woman is the means of drawing men to sin. Originally appearing in 1541 and republished thereafter, it was soon followed by two separate French translations in 1542 and 1548. At the same period appeared a 5-act tragedy by the Protestant theologian Leonhard Culmann (1498-1568) titled ''Ein schön weltlich Spiel von der schönen Pandora'' (1544), similarly drawing on Hesiod in order to teach conventional Christian morality. The equation of the two also occurs in the 1550 allegorical painting by
Jean Cousin the Elder Jean Cousin (1500 – before 1593) was a French painter, sculptor, etcher, engraver, and geometrician. He is known as "Jean Cousin the Elder" to distinguish him from his son Jean Cousin the Younger, also an artist. Career Cousin was born at ...
, ''Eva Prima Pandora'' (Eve the first Pandora), in which a naked woman reclines in a grotto. Her right elbow rests on a skull, indicating the bringing of death, and she holds an apple branch in that hand – both attributes of Eve. Her left arm is wreathed by a snake (another reference to the temptation of Eve) and that hand rests on an unstopped jar, Pandora's attribute. Above hangs the sign from which the painting gains its name and beneath it is a closed jar, perhaps the counterpart of the other in Olympus, containing blessings. In Juan de Horozco's Spanish
emblem book An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Emblem books are collection ...
, ''Emblemas morales'' (1589), a motive is given for Pandora's action. Accompanying an illustration of her opening the lid of an urn from which demons and angels emerge is a commentary that condemns “female curiosity and the desire to learn by which the very first woman was deceived”. In the succeeding century that desire to learn was equated with the female demand to share the male prerogative of education. In
Nicolas Regnier Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...
’s painting “The Allegory of Vanity” (1626), subtitled “Pandora”, it is typified by her curiosity about the contents of the urn that she has just unstopped and is compared to the other attributes of vanity surrounding her (fine clothes, jewellery, a pot of gold coins). Again,
Pietro Paolini Pietro Paolini, called il Lucchese (3 June 1603 – 12 April 1681) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Working in Rome, Venice and finally his native Lucca, he was a follower of Caravaggio to whose work he responded in a very personal ...
’s lively Pandora of about 1632 seems more aware of the effect that her pearls and fashionable headgear is making than of the evils escaping from the jar she holds. There is a social message carried by these paintings too, for education, no less than expensive adornment, is only available to those who can afford it. But an alternative interpretation of Pandora’s curiosity makes it merely an extension of childish innocence. This comes out in portrayals of Pandora as a young girl, as in
Walter Crane Walter Crane (15 August 184514 March 1915) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most influential, and among the most prolific, children's book creators of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Ka ...
’s “Little Pandora” spilling buttons while encumbered by the doll she is carrying, in
Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...
’s book illustration and Frederick Stuart Church’s etching of an adolescent girl taken aback by the contents of the ornamental box she has opened. The same innocence informs
Odilon Redon Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French symbolist painter, printmaker, draughtsman and pastellist. Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, he worked almost exclusivel ...
’s 1910/12 clothed figure carrying a box and merging into a landscape suffused with light, and even more the 1914 version of a naked Pandora surrounded by flowers, a primaeval Eve in the
Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan- Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2-3 and Ezekiel 28 ...
. Such innocence, “naked and without alarm” in the words of an earlier French poet, portrays Pandora more as victim of a conflict outside her comprehension than as temptress.


Between Eve and Pygmalion

Early dramatic treatments of the story of Pandora are works of musical theatre. ''La Estatua de Prometeo'' (1670) by
Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (, ; ; 17 January 160025 May 1681) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque ...
is made an allegory in which devotion to learning is contrasted with the active life. Prometheus moulds a clay statue of
Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...
, the goddess of wisdom to whom he is devoted, and gives it life from a stolen sunbeam. This initiates a debate among the gods whether a creation outside their own work is justified; his devotion is in the end rewarded with permission to marry his statue. In this work, Pandora, the statue in question, plays only a passive role in the competition between Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus (signifying the active life), and between the gods and men. Another point to note about Calderón's musical drama is that the theme of a statue married by her creator is more suggestive of the story of Pygmalion. The latter is also typical of
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—e ...
’s ultimately unproduced opera ''Pandore'' (1740). There too the creator of a statue animates it with stolen fire, but then the plot is complicated when Jupiter also falls in love with this new creation but is prevented by
Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
from consummating it. In revenge the god sends Destiny to tempt this new Eve into opening a box full of curses as a punishment for Earth’s revolt against Heaven. If Pandora appears suspended between the roles of Eve and of Pygmalion’s creation in Voltaire’s work, in
Charles-Pierre Colardeau Charles-Pierre Colardeau (12 October 1732 in Janville, Eure-et-Loir, Janville – 7 April 1776 in Paris) was a French poet. His most notable works are an imitation of ''Eloisa to Abelard'' by Alexander Pope and a translation of the first two sec ...
’s erotic poem ''Les Hommes de Prométhée'' (1774) she is presented equally as a love-object and in addition as an unfallen Eve: ::Not ever had the painter’s jealous veil ::Shrouded the fair Pandora’s charms: ::Innocence was naked and without alarm. Having been fashioned from clay and given the quality of “naïve grace combined with feeling”, she is set to wander through an enchanted landscape. There she encounters the first man, the prior creation of Prometheus, and warmly responds to his embrace. At the end the couple quit their marriage couch and survey their surroundings “As sovereigns of the world, kings of the universe”. One other musical work with much the same theme was Aumale de Corsenville's one-act verse melodrama ''Pandore'', which had an overture and incidental music by Franz Ignaz Beck. There Prometheus, having already stolen fire from heaven, creates a perfect female, “artless in nature, of limpid innocence”, for which he anticipates divine vengeance. However, his patron Minerva descends to announce that the gods have gifted Pandora with other qualities and that she will become the future model and mother of humanity. The work was performed on 2 July 1789, on the very eve of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
, and was soon forgotten in the course of the events that followed.


19th century drama

Over the course of the 19th century, the story of Pandora was interpreted in radically different ways by four dramatic authors in four countries. In two of these she was presented as the bride of Epimetheus; in the two others she was the wife of Prometheus. The earliest of these works was the lyrical dramatic fragment by
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
, written between 1807 and 1808. Though it bears the title ''Pandora'', what exists of the play revolves round Epimetheus’ longing for the return of the wife who has abandoned him and has yet to arrive. A biographer has argued that it is a philosophical transformation of Goethe's passion in old age for a teenaged girl.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...
’s ''The Masque of Pandora'' dates from 1876. It begins with her creation, her refusal by Prometheus and acceptance by Epimetheus. Then in the latter’s house an “oaken chest, Carven with figures and embossed with gold” attracts her curiosity. After she eventually gives in to temptation and opens it, she collapses in despair and a storm destroys the garden outside. When Epimetheus returns, she begs him to kill her but he accepts joint responsibility. The work was twice used as the basis for operas by
Alfred Cellier Alfred Cellier (1 December 184428 December 1891) was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor. In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing th ...
in 1881 and by Eleanor Everest Freer in 1933. Iconographical elements from the masque also figure in Walter Crane's large
watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
of Pandora of 1885. She is pictured as sprawled over a carved wooden chest on which are embossed golden designs of the
three fates The Fates are a common motif in European polytheism, most frequently represented as a trio of goddesses. The Fates shape the destiny of each human, often expressed in textile metaphors such as spinning fibers into yarn, or weaving threads on a ...
who figure as a chorus in Longfellow's scene 3. Outside the palace, a high wind is bending the trees. But on the front of the chest, a medallion showing the serpent wound about the tree of knowledge recalls the old interpretation of Pandora as a type of Eve. In England the high drama of the incident was travestied in
James Robinson Planché James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...
’s ''Olympic Revels or Prometheus and Pandora'' (1831), the first of the
Victorian burlesque Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as travesty or extravaganza, is a genre of theatrical entertainment that was popular in Victorian England and in the New York theatre of the mid-19th century. It is a form of parody in which a well-known oper ...
s. It is a costume drama peppered with comic banter and songs during which the gods betroth Pandora to a disappointed Prometheus with “only one little box” for dowry. When she opens it, Jupiter descends to curse her and Prometheus, but Hope emerges from the box and negotiates their pardon. At the other end of the century,
Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...
’s ambitious opera Prométhée (1900) had a cast of hundreds, a huge orchestra and an outdoor amphitheatre for stage. It was based in part on the ''
Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' ( grc, Προμηθεὺς Δεσμώτης, ''Promētheús Desmṓtēs'') is an Ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ant ...
'' of
Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...
but was rewritten so as to give the character of Pandore an equal part with his. This necessitated her falling “as if dead” on hearing the judgement against Prométhée in Act 1; a funeral procession bearing her body at the start of Act 2, after which she revives to mourn the carrying out of Prométhée's sentence; while in Act 3 she disobeys Prométhée by accepting a box, supposedly filled with blessings for mankind, and makes the tragedy complete.


Pandora in character

File:Pandora Loison cour Carree Louvre.jpg, ''Pandora'' (1861) by Pierre Loison (1816–1886) File:Madame Vestris as Pandora.jpg, Madame Vestris in the burlesque ''Prometheus and Pandora'', an 1831 print File:Alexandre Cabanel - Pandora - Walters 3799.jpg, Swedish soprano
Christine Nilsson Christina Nilsson, Countess de Casa Miranda, also called Christine Nilsson (20 August 1843 – 22 November 1921) was a Swedish dramatic coloratura soprano. Possessed of a pure and brilliant voice of first three then two and a half octaves tra ...
as ''Pandora'' by
Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Enciclopedi ...
, 1873 File:Pandora-1879.jpg,
Jane Morris Jane Morris (née Burden; 19 October 1839 – 26 January 1914) was an English embroiderer in the Arts and Crafts movement and artists' model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to her husband Willia ...
in the role,
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
, coloured chalks, 1879 File:Yvonne Park - Pandora.png,
Yvonne Gregory Yvonne Gregory (1889–1970) was a British society photographer. Gregory married fellow photographer Bertram Park in 1916. Gregory, Park and Marcus Adams established themselves as the "Three Photographers" and based their collective studio ...
’s
photogram A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The usual result is a negative shadow image th ...
recreates a pose from a painting, 1919
The pattern during the 19th century had only repeated that of the nearly three millennia before it. The ancient myth of Pandora never settled into one accepted version, was never agreed to have a single interpretation. It was used as a vehicle to illustrate the prevailing ideologies or artistic fashions of the time and eventually became so worn a coinage that it grew confused with other, sometimes later, stories. Best known in the end for a single metaphorical attribute, the box with which she was not even endowed until the 16th century, depictions of Pandora have been further confused with other holders of receptacles – with one of the trials of Psyche, with Sophonisba about to drink poison or Artemisia with the ashes of her husband. Nevertheless, her very polyvalence has been in the end the guarantor of her cultural survival.


Notes


References

* Athanassakis, A. ''Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Shield'' (New York 1983). * Beall, E. "The Contents of Hesiod's Pandora Jar: ''Erga'' 94–98," Hermes 117 (1989) 227–30. * Harrison, Jane Ellen, ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion'' (1903) 1922, pp. 280–85. * Griffith, Mark. ''Aeschylus ''Prometheus Bound'' Text and Commentary'' (Cambridge 1983). *
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, ''
Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...
'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*
Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...
, ''
Works and Days ''Works and Days'' ( grc, Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, Érga kaì Hēmérai)The ''Works and Days'' is sometimes called by the Latin translation of the title, ''Opera et Dies''. Common abbreviations are ''WD'' and ''Op''. for ''Opera''. is a ...
'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts,
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
, ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Patrick Kaplanian, Mythes grecs d'Origine, volume I, Prométhée et Pandore, Ed. L'entreligne, Paris 2011, distribution Daudin * Kenaan, ''Pandora's Senses: The Feminine Character of the Ancient Text'' (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2008), pp. xii, 253 (Wisconsin Studies in Classics). * Kirk, G.S., ''Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient and Other Cultures'' (Berkeley 1970) 226–32. * Lamberton, Robert, ''Hesiod'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. . Cf. Chapter II, "The Theogony", and Chapter III, "The Works and Days", especially pp. 96–103 for a side-by-side comparison and analysis of the Pandora story. * Leinieks, V. "''Elpis'' in Hesiod, ''Works and Days'' 96," ''Philologus'' 128 (1984) 1–8. * Meagher, Robert E.; ''The Meaning of Helen: in Search of an Ancient Icon'', Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1995. . * Moore, Clifford H. ''The Religious Thought of the Greeks'', 1916. * Neils, Jenifer, ''The Girl in the Pithos: Hesiod's Elpis'', i
"Periklean Athens and its Legacy. Problems and Perspectives"
eds. J. M. Barringer and J. M. Hurwit (Austin : University of Texas Press), 2005, pp. 37–45. * Nilsson, Martin P. ''History of Greek Religion'', 1949. * Panofsky, Dora and Erwin, ''Pandoras Box - The Changing Aspects of a Mythical Symbol''
Bollingen Series 52
New York 1956 * Phipps, William E.

in ''Theology Today'', v.45, n.1, April 1988, Princeton:
Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
. * Pucci, Pietro, ''Hesiod and the Language of Poetry'' (Baltimore 1977) * Rose, Herbert Jennings, ''A Handbook of Greek Literature; From Homer to the Age of Lucian'', London, Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1934. Cf. especially Chapter III, ''Hesiod and the Hesiodic Schools'', p. 61 * Schlegel, Catherine and Henry Weinfield, "Introduction to Hesiod" in ''Hesiod / Theogony and Works and Days'', University of Michigan Press, 2006. . * Smith, William; ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
'', London (1873)
"Pando'ra"
* Smith, William; ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/ biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 ...
'', London (1873)
"Anesido'ra"
* Verdenius, Willem Jacob
''A Commentary on Hesiod ''Works and Days'' vv 1–382''
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1985). . This work has a very in-depth discussion and synthesis of the various theories and speculations about the Pandora story and the jar. Cf. p. 62 and onwards. * Vernant, J. P., ''Myth and Society in Ancient Greece'' (New York 1990) 183–201. * Vernant, J. P. « Le mythe prométhéen chez Hésiode », in Mythe et société en Grèce ancienne, Paris, Maspéro, 1974, pp. 177–194 * Warner, M., ''Monuments and Maidens: The Allegory of the Female Form'' (New York 1985) 213–40 * West, M. L. (1966), ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press. . * West, M. L. (1978), ''Hesiod: Works and Days'', Clarendon Press. . * Zarecki, Jonathan P.
"Pandora and the Good Eris in Hesiod"
''Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies'' 47 (2007) 5–29 * Zeitlin, Froma. ''Playing the Other: Gender and Society in Classical Greek Literature'' (Princeton 1995).


External links

* {{Authority control Women in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Deeds of Zeus Creation myths Nudity in mythology Mythological first humans Deeds of Aphrodite Deeds of Hermes