Prometheus and 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 e will consider the nature of the
gods as 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.

Humas 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

justice, it is striking that the heads
here in what seems to be a very
unjust way, punishing humans.
 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
punishment
Prometheus 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 Hesiod
does not say why.
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 author say this specifically.

The impetus for his stay – the

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

Burtkert believes that sacrifice

is a means to displace the guilt feels
over hunting and killing animals.
 The “first sacrifice” would be
the moment 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
sexes.
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 the
sacrificed animal.
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
sacrifice somehow
entailed punishment.
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 “Work and Days”,

Pandora’s creation is
described in more detail.
In Theogony the emphasis is on Prometheus’s
wrong doing 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 under
the lid of the jar.
Pandora’s story is often compaired with that
of the biblical Eve.
The difference 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.
o Eve was created in the first place as
a helper for Adam.
o Pandora is evil from her very
creation.
Eve vs. Pandora

Eve is created out of Adams. 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 and

hope.
 On 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 man to have sons.

The only way to achieve sons is through women.

The women 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 anxiety and

resentment about women, along with fears of what
they would do if they gained power.
 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 human-
like appetites and passions.
 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.