Prometheus &

Pandora
To consider Hesiod’s depiction of humans, we will look at
the myth of Prometheus and Pandora as it appears in
Theogony and in Hesiod’s other poem, Works and Days.

We will consider the implications of this myth for the

Greek view of society and particularly of women and
gender roles, plus we will consider the nature of the gods
as it it reflected in Theogony and what the essential
differences are between gods and humans.
Theogony concentrates on the coming-into -being of the gods; it
does not contain a creation story for humans at all.

The subject of Theogony is the gods, and its purpose is to describe

how they arranged and developed their society. Humans are largely
irrelevant in this context.

Humans are mentioned in Theogony, but the creation of men (as

opposed to women) is not described; they are simply there.

Men appear in Theogony when Hesiod describes the first sacrifice

at a place called Mekone. This leads into the story of Prometheus
and of Pandora, the first woman.
 Prometheus is a Titan, the son
of Iapetos (brother of
Chronos)
In Hesiod’s account, Prometheus
tries to trick Zeus into taking
the less desirable portion of the
first sacrifice so that men will
have the better portion. In
retaliation, Zeus punishes
humans.
Zeus’s first reaction to
Prometheus’s deceit is to hide
fire from man.

Because Zeus is the god of

This is our first view of the
relationship between gods and
humans in Greek myth. The
gods do not love humans or
feel compelled to treat them
fairly; rather, humans are
useful but expendable.

In his role as god of justice,

Zeus supervises justice
between humans; this does
not necessarily imply that a
comparable form of justice
exists
 Prometheus steals the fire back for
humanity, which brings down
further
Prometheus punishment.
is chained to a
pillar to have his liver eaten
daily by an eagle, Zeus’s
sacred bird. The liver
regenerates and is eaten again
the next day.
Men are punished by the
creation of the first woman.
The story includes unexplained
elements: Zeus seems to have
a particular grudge against
Prometheus’s entire family, but
 Nor does Hesiod
say why
Prometheus wants
to help
humans. According to
some later authors,
Prometheus created
humans, but Hesiod
does not say so.
 Prometheus story is important on
several levels.
Notice that fire equals
civilization, or “culture.”
What Prometheus brings men is
culture. Later authors say this
specifically.

The impetus for his story--the first

sacrifice--is very important in this
context. Sacrifice can be seen as
representing the transition from
pre-civilization to civilization.

Burkert believes that sacrifice is

a means to displace the guilt
The “first sacrifice” would be
the moment at which
hominids made the transition
from guilt-free animals to
guilt-feeling humans, the
moment at which civilization
or society in general, comes
into being.

If the myth is read in this

way, it is probably no surprise
that sex appears at just this
point, because one function of
society is to regulate the
relationship between the
Guilt over
killing animals
is not the only
possible guilt
men might feel
over sacrifice.
When we look
at the myth
from outside its
original culture,
we understand
why humans eat
Within the culture
that developed
this myth, the fact
that the gods
receive the inferior
portion of the
sacrifice would be
troubling.
Thus, the idea
that the
establishment of
The story of Pandora also occurs in Hesiod’s Works and
Days.

In Works and Days,

the first woman is
named; in
Theogony, she is
nameless.

The name Pandora is

ambiguous; it may mean
“gift to all” or “all-
giver.”

In Works and Days,

In Theogony the emphasis is on Prometheus’s wrongdoing
and his punishment, but in Works and Days the emphasis
is on Pandora herself.

She is sent not to

men in general, but
to Prometheus’s
brother Epimetheus.
She has a jar that
contains all the evils
of the world, as well
as Hope. When
Pandora opens the jar,
the evils fly out, but
Hope remains just
Pandora’s story is often compared with that of
the biblical Eve.
The differences seem more striking
than the similarities, however, and
have several implications for our
understanding of the relationship
between the sexes in Greek
mythology.

Both Pandora and Eve are

responsible for the advent of evil into
the world.

Eve was created in the first

place as a helper for Adam.

Pandora is evil from her very

 Eve vs. Pandora

Eve is created out of Adam’s body, but Pandora is a different type of

creature. This seems to imply that women are seen as different in
kind from men, rather than as simply the female sex of the human
species.

This is our first example of the deep-seated misogyny that runs

through much of classical myth.
The presence of Hope in Pandora’s jar is both striking and
difficult to interpret.

The most common modern

interpretation is that no
matter how bad things get,
“we still have hope.” This
view ignores two points.

Hope is still in the jar,

not out in the world the
way the evils are.

If Hope is a good thing,

why is it in the jar of
evils to begin with?
 Hope or Expectation?
Another interpretation is that Hope’s retention in the jar is meant
to indicate that there is no Hope, that even that small relief of
evil is absent for mankind.

The key may be that the word translated as Hope, elpis, is in

fact ambiguous, both good and evil, more like expectation. Its
being caught under the lip of the jar may indicate the two-edged
nature of elpis.
The myth of Pandora lends itself
especially well to psychological
interpretations.

The jar can be read as representing

Pandora’s womb.

Pandora-- and all women--are responsible

for evil in that they are responsible for
life itself, by giving birth.

At the same time that birth inflicts all

the evils of life on the one born, it is
also the only hope for continuity
available to humans.

Thus, the jar/womb contains both evil

On a deeper level, the description of Pandora can be
seen as reflecting male anxieties about and
resentments of sexual reproduction.

In a strongly patriarchal society, it is

all-important for men to have sons.
The only way to achieve sons is
through women. The woman can be
seen as controlling the man’s
ultimate destiny.
The jar, which Pandora can choose to
open, could represent this
fear/resentment of female power.
We will see other examples of this
Several threads become evident in
the overall relationship of gods
and humans.

The term “god” is

regularly used to translate
the Greek theos, but for
modern readers this
translation can bring
serious misconception.

Modern Western readers

tend to assume that a god
must by definition by good,
merciful, and just.
We tend to assume that a god much by definition be omniscient
and omnipotent.

We tend to assume
that a god must by
definition have created
the universe and must
feel love toward
human beings.

Despite the
anthropomorphic
language often used
to describe God, we
tend to assume that a
god does not really
have a body or
All these assumptions are false for
the gods of classical mythology.
They are not consistently good, or merciful, or even (apparently) just. Their
anthropomorphism means that they share in humanity's less appealing attributes and
emotions; they can be jealous, spiteful and cruel.

Though they know a great deal, they are not omniscient’ though very powerful, they
are not omnipotent.

They are not transcendent. In other words, they did not create the universe but are
part of it. According to the earliest tradition, they did not even create human
beings.
They are not loving
caretakers

They are not loving, devoted caretakers of humanity. They do

not care about us as a species and rarely even as individuals.

Although they are more than personifications of natural forces,

emotions, or processes, such personification is an important element
of their characters. This helps to explain their emotional detachment
from humans and their mercilessness.