The legend of pandora's box summary. What is pandora's box? Pandora opens the box

Titan Prometheus did a lot useful to people. He brought them fire, knowledge, taught them many crafts, and life on earth changed, people became happier. Upon learning of this, the Thunderer Zeus severely punished Prometheus. He made him suffer and suffer for several centuries. And then, having learned his secret and forgiving him, he still could not help but take revenge on people and sent indestructible evil to the earth.

The Thunderer has developed an insidious plan. He called the gods to him. The blacksmith Hephaestus, a friend of Prometheus, was given the task of mixing water and earth and molding from this mixture a girl who would be irresistibly beautiful and resemble real goddesses with her appearance. When she is ready, she should be endowed with strength and a charming voice. Then he ordered his daughter Pallas Athena to weave for her unusual clothes, just like those worn by goddesses. Then Zeus asked Aphrodite to teach the girl all kinds of love wisdom, and ordered Hermes to endow her with a cunning mind.

And the gods began to fulfill these commands. Hephaestus made earth and water beautiful girl. The gods worked together to breathe life into her. Athena, with her charms, dressed up the girl, made her look like beautiful goddesses, Hermes taught her to speak intelligently and be curious, and Aphrodite taught her how to seduce men. And the gods called the girl molded from water and earth Pandora, which meant "endowed with all gifts." As conceived by Zeus, Pandora was supposed to bring misfortune to people.

When everything was ready, Zeus ordered Pandora to be lowered to the ground and taken to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus, who, in contrast to his wise brother, was not distinguished by a far-sighted mind. Prometheus warned him more than once to be careful and never accept gifts from Zeus. But when he saw Pandora, Epimetheus quickly forgot all the orders of his older brother.

Pandora played before him the role of an innocent girl and embarrassed him with her sweet speeches. Epimetheus couldn't take his eyes off Pandora. The girl was like a goddess, she was wearing expensive clothes, she spoke smartly, and Epimetheus completely lost his head, he asked her to become his wife. The girl immediately agreed and began to host in his house.

Pandora was very curious, Hermes specially endowed her with this quality. In her husband's house, she examined all the nooks and crannies and found a strange box in the basement, closed with a heavy lid. Disassembled her desire to know what her husband kept in him. She asked Epimetheus, but he didn't know. He only said that it was impossible to open it, as a big trouble could happen. What, he could not explain, but he also forbade Pandora to open it.

Pandora's curiosity flared up even more, and she began to wait for the right moment. When Epimetheus left the house, she went down to the basement where the box stood and lifted its heavy lid. And immediately various disasters and misfortunes that Zeus concluded there flew out of the box. At the bottom there was only Hope. She also wanted to fly out after the disasters, but the frightened Pandora slammed the lid, and Nadezhda remained at the bottom.

Neither Pandora nor Epimetheus knew that all these were the machinations of Zeus, who wanted to punish happy people. Evil calamities, sufferings, and diseases that flew out of the box immediately spread throughout the earth. The water was filled with evil.

People used to live happily without knowing evil, hard work and fatal diseases. Now illnesses and disasters began to come to people day and night as uninvited and silent guests. The prudent Zeus deprived them of the gift of speech. So the god of thunder took revenge on both Prometheus and the people made happy by him.

Pandora's Box (myth of ancient Greece)

After Prometheus brought fire to people from the forge of Hephaestus and taught them different crafts, people worked and their lives became happier. And the people themselves have become better, kinder and more attentive to each other. After all, they now had a lot of everything, and if something was not enough, then they could do everything themselves. The great thunderer did not like this, and he decided to test people again and sent Evil to them on earth. And so that people would not understand that it was Evil, it had to come to them in the form of a beautiful girl.

Zeus called his son, the god Hephaestus, and ordered him to mix the earth with water and make a girl of extraordinary beauty. Pallas Athena wove for her wonderful clothes from silver threads and put a golden crown on her head. Aphrodite gave the girl an irresistible charm, and Hermes put a deceitful and cunning soul into her chest.
They called the girl Pandora, which meant - "endowed with all the gods." And it really was so, because she received gifts from all the gods.
When the girl was ready, Zeus ordered Hermes to take her to the house of Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. Prometheus always warned his foolish brother not to accept any gifts from the cunning Zeus. He knew that these gifts could bring people only disasters and hardships. But Epimetheus did not listen to the wise advice of his brother, and besides everything, the girl was so beautiful in herself that he gladly accepted her and took Pandora as his wife.
Soon Epimetheus was convinced that this time his wise brother was right. Together with Pandora, a large vessel appeared in the house of Epimetheus. It stood in a dark corner for a long time, and no one ever opened it. Everyone knew from somewhere that if the vessel is opened, a big trouble will fall on the ground. So the vessel stood for itself in a secluded place, and no one even dared to think to come close to it. But once the curious and cunning Pandora, languishing with curiosity, slowly made her way to the vessel.
“I won’t open it,” she thought, “but I’ll just slightly open the lid and look inside, what lies there.
And she slightly opened the vessel. But this crack turned out to be enough for all evil, all human vices and misfortunes, illnesses and hardships that were contained in the vessel to fly out of it at once.
Frightened, Pandora slammed the lid shut, but it was too late. All human vices and misfortunes had time to scatter over the earth, and only hope remained at the very bottom of the vessel. So now people were deprived of even a small hope for a better life.
Again, evil settled on earth, people suffered from various disasters that fell on them one after another. New diseases appeared, they could no longer be healed by the medicines that Prometheus gave people.

Many people know the term "Pandora's box", the meaning of which goes back to the legends of ancient Greece. This is a very interesting myth with a deep semantic meaning. The ancients believed that curiosity is one of the main vices. A person who sticks his nose in other people's business was said to be trying to open Pandora's box.

... It all started with the fact that the god Prometheus gave people fire, saving them from the cold and darkness of the night. was angered by this act. By order of the supreme Olympian, Prometheus was chained to a rock. Every day an eagle flew in and pecked out the liver of Prometheus, but during the night it was restored again.

The anger of Zeus fell not only on Prometheus, but also on people. Having received fire, the inhabitants of the earth gained independence from the gods and stopped worshiping them. To punish recalcitrant people, Zeus the Thunderer came up with an insidious plan...

Pandora's Box (myth)

Zeus commanded to create a young girl, beautiful and very curious. Many Olympic gods took part in its creation. Hephaestus mixed earth and water to fashion a body for her. Hermes breathed soul into the girl, and Aphrodite gave her a seductive smile. Athena prepared for the first woman among mortals a sparkling silver outfit.

The girl received the name "Pandora", which can be translated as "possessing all the gifts." The gods decided to give it to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. Epimetheus knew that gifts from Zeus should not be taken, but he was fascinated by the manners and appearance of the young woman. Against the advice of his brother, Epimetheus decided to take the girl as his wife.

Pandora's box has been opened

The curious woman explored every corner of her husband's house. One day, she caught sight of a strange box of dark wood, which stood in the basement, near the farthest wall.

The box was tied with silk gold cord. Pandora wanted to ask her husband what was in the box. However, Epimetheus said that in no case should it be opened.

After waiting for her husband to leave the house, the woman pulled off the cord and heard voices calling to her from the box. She opened the lid, and all sorts of illnesses, misfortunes and misfortunes immediately flew out of it. Pandora desperately tried to close the lid, but when she succeeded, only one creature with a broken wing remained inside the box.

The emergence of hope

Troubles and diseases spread among people, and Pandora and Epimetheus first learned what fear and pain are. In a moment of despair, they heard the faint voice of the creature that remained locked in the box. The creature asked to be released and assured that it could heal any wounds. Considering that it would not get any worse, Epimetheus decided to open the drawer a little.

The creature sitting at the bottom turned out to be hope. She healed the pain and fixed all the troubles. And now, from now on, behind every misfortune, behind every evil, there is always hope. But people should not expect it too soon, sometimes a broken wing delays hope.

PANDORA

When Prometheus stole divine fire for mortals, taught them arts and crafts and gave them knowledge, life on earth became happier. Zeus, enraged by the act of Prometheus, severely punished him, and sent evil to people on earth. He commanded the glorious blacksmith god Hephaestus to mix earth and water and make from this mixture a beautiful girl who would have the strength of people, a gentle voice and a glance of her eyes, similar to the gaze of immortal goddesses. The daughter of Zeus, Pallas Athena, was supposed to weave beautiful clothes for her, the goddess of love, the golden Aphrodite, was supposed to give her irresistible charm, Hermes - to give her a cunning mind and resourcefulness.
Immediately the gods fulfilled the command of Zeus. Hephaestus made an unusually beautiful girl out of the earth. The gods revived her. Pallas Athena with the Charites clothed the girl in clothes shining like the sun and put on her golden necklaces. Ores laid a wreath of fragrant spring flowers on her lush curls. Hermes put into her mouth false and flattering speeches. The gods called her Pandora, because she received gifts from all of them. Pandora was supposed to bring misfortune to people.
When this evil was ready for people, Zeus sent Hermes to take Pandora to earth to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus. The wise Prometheus warned his foolish brother many times and advised him not to accept gifts from the Thunderer Zeus. He was afraid that these gifts would bring grief to people. But Epimetheus did not listen to the advice of his wise brother. Pandora captivated him with her beauty, and he took her as his wife. Soon Epimetheus learned how much evil Pandora brought with her to people.

1 Pandora means - endowed with all gifts.

96

In the house of Epimetheus there was a large vessel tightly closed with a heavy lid; no one knew what was in this vessel, and no one dared to open it, since everyone knew that this threatened with troubles. Curious Pandora secretly removed the lid from the vessel, and all the disasters that were once contained in it were scattered all over the earth. Only one Hope remained at the bottom of the huge vessel. The lid of the vessel slammed shut again, and Nadezhda did not fly out of the house of Epimetheus. This was not wished by the Thunderer Zeus.

People used to live happily, not knowing evil, hard work and destructive diseases. Now a myriad of calamities have spread among the people. Now both the earth and the sea are filled with evil. Uninvited, day and night, evil and disease come to people, they bring suffering with them to people. With inaudible steps, silently, they come, since Zeus deprived them of the power of speech - he created evil and disease dumb.

Prepared by edition:

Kun N.A.
Legends and myths ancient greece. Moscow: State Educational and Pedagogical Publishing House of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, 1954.

According to ancient Greek mythology Pandora was the first woman created by Hephaestus at the behest of Zeus. It was created by mixing clay and water. Hermes gave her such human qualities as cunning, sweet speech and deceit, and another goddess, Aphrodite, endowed her with unearthly beauty. For people, Pandora was supposed to be something of a punishment for stealing fire for them.

That's how it all happened. Pandora, due to her irresponsible actions, sent misfortune and misfortune to humanity, which is what the legend about Pandora's box tells about (there is also a different translation: “Pandora's box”, “Pandora's casket” and “Pandora's vessel”).

Myth - Pandora's box

The wise seer Prometheus had a brother. It was another titan whose name was Epimetheus. In translation, his name meant "the one who thinks later."
This guy was very wise, but only to the detriment. So Zeus decided to make him a kind of weapon for revenge on Prometheus and people.

Zeus ordered the blacksmith Hephaestus to mix water with clay and mold a beautiful girl. Many gods participated in this process, and each of them gave the girl something of himself. So, Aphrodite gave her unearthly beauty and a gentle voice. Athena put on her a silver robe and a golden necklace. The messenger Hermes endowed her with the ability to lie and sweet talk.

The gods sat for a long time and thought about what to call this lovely girl. After some time, they gave her the name of Pandora, which in translation means "the one that is gifted by the gods." Hermes took this miracle to the naive Epimetheus, and he, despite all the warnings of his brother, accepted it as a gift from Zeus. She was too beautiful and seductive, so the marriage did not have to wait long.

Pandora was in charge in the house of Epimetheus around the clock. Her nose climbed into any corner and sniffed everything. But the box with the heavy lid attracted the girl the most. This box was sent by the gods to Epimetheus for storage, and on its lid were engraved the words with a prohibition: “Do not remove the lids!” But where are such prohibitions when a woman is seething with interest. In addition, there was no one around who could see what she now intends to do.
As soon as she slightly opened the lid of the box, the imprisoned troubles immediately flew out from the inside. It was war, sickness and human shortcomings. At the bottom of the box, only hope remained, which did not have time to fly out with everyone, because the frightened Pandora slammed the lid.

It did not take long for troubles and hardships to make themselves felt. On the same day, at night, they crept up to all the people to whom they had time and took possession of their feelings and emotions. Since then, they have ruined the lives of many people.

Pandora's box and modern culture

It is known that in the past, the popular ancient Greek myth of Pandora had a slightly different translation. The fact that it was just a “box” is due to the Dutch scientist of the Northern Renaissance, Erasim of Rotterdam. He first used the phrase "Pandora's box" in his great work "Proverbs" (Adagia).

Until now, it is believed that when a person is interested in almost everything, even in what is not necessary, he can destroy both himself and his loved ones. From this came many folk proverbs and sayings, "do not stick your nose where it does not belong", for example.

And speaking of Pandora's box, people to this day remember the girl created by the gods. This is justified by the many references to the box in literature (the Strugatsky brothers called one of the fantastic planets Pandora) and in cinema (the silent film of 1928 "Pandora's Box", etc.)

Many classics interpreted the myth in their own way. So, the famous Takho-Godi, a Soviet classical philologist, said that the legend of Pandora is a story about feminine beginning, which personifies something destructive and deceitful.