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The myth of Pandora is basically the story of a woman who is given a box by the gods, and told not to open it. Of course, she opens the box, and evil is released to the world.

Is it possible that the box represents a womb? I think that makes a lot of sense, because it's a cavity with an opening, and things come out of it (that were never seen on earth before). The myth also is a commentary on gender, because it's a woman who releases evil to the world, and Pandora's husband is at fault only because he is stupid enough to marry her.

Rafael Marazuela
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It is 100% supportable that the "box" represents the womb in Hesiod's version of the myth from his Theogony. In brief:

  • In the Theogony, Hesiod never mentions any vessel save Pandora herself.

  • Pandora is cast as the mother of the "race of women" who were created to vex men (i.e. they are the source of evil named by Hesiod in the Theogony.)

  • In other versions of the myth, no "box" is mentioned, but instead a pithou meaning "jar" for wine or oil. (If wine, it could represent blood, and oil is a lubricant.)

  • The idea of woman as vessel is a major point in Apollo's notorious arguments in Orestes' defense in The Eumenides, demonstrating the existence of this concept in Ancient Greek thought.

You can find a more detailed explanation of this element of the myth here, as well as a discussion of the possible meaning in Aesop and Hesiod.

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DukeZhou
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I don't think that the point of the myth lies to the fact that it was Pandora that openned the box, neither that the box necessarily symbolizes the womb. It could have been her husband, Epimetheus, that oppened it, and it wouldn't matter, the result would be the same. What matters is that Zeus knew all along that the box would be openned. The box was given to the couple as their wedding gift by Zeus, and he wanted to punish humanity this way, because humanity accepted the gift of the Holy Flame stolen by Prometheus. That made the humans more powerful than they were, and some of them became greedy and invaded Olympus to overthrow the gods, and become rulers in their place. Zeus zapped those who even tried to climb Olympus with lighnings, and to take revenge he thought of that trick with the box.

So basically the main point of the story is that accepting stolen goods is bad.

Note that Pandora's husband, Epimetheus is NOT a man. He is a Titan. Humanity prior to Pandora existed as beings that had no sexes and were given birth by Earth, literaly (According to the myth) sprouting out of soil like plants do. Thus women through Pandora is the oldest sex of the two. This is not something explicitly written, but one is lead to that conclusion one he realizes that the first humans didn't had a gender / sex and had no sex.

Stavros D
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To be honest, Pandora's Box might represent why there is evil and misery in the world. In my opinion, it was Zeus's fault that she opened the box because he was the one who gave her the power of curiosity.

Za..
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In this case, it is up to you to interpret it however you want, since nothing has been left behind that suggests this is definitely true. In the end, this is a question of opinion, one that cannot be resolved.

typell
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