LIFE AS MYTH
A FEMININE MYTH
Hsi Wang Mu, goddess of immortality
The girl with the peaches: portrait of Vera Mamontova (Valentin Serov)
Carnation Lily, Lily Rose (John Singer Sargent)
The mermaid at Clonfert Cathedral
Olympia (Édouard Manet)
WINTER 2007
PANDORA AND THE GOLDEN BOX
Pandora. John William Waterhouse. 1869.
(W)omen can rescue themselves and others through tricks, pursue what they need or desire through tricks, transform what they find unworkable or unworthy through tricks. Even in adversity and oppression, women are capable of tricking their way into more desirable positions, of using tricks to gain advantages for their communities. Scheherazade's Sisters: Trickster heroines and their stories in world literature, Marilyn Jurich.
For both immortal and mortal, every trick has it consequence. Some good, some bad. The theft of fire was no exception. For Prometheus the consequence was a punishment of chains and unrelenting agony. For humanity, the consequence was the great gift of fire. However, there was also a negative consequence for the mortal world and it came in the form of Pandora.
Pandora, meaning all-gifted, was the first woman. And, according to the myth, she is the punishment that Zeus devised for the theft of fire. When the gods and goddesses created her, Pandora received various gifts: beauty, healing, charm, cunning, boldness and creativity. And to this mix Zeus added mischievousness and a deep curiosity. He then presented her to the mortal ruler Epimetheus, with a beautiful golden box as her dowry.
Before Prometheus was chained to the rock, he warned Epimetheus of Pandora and her golden box. However, when Epimetheus saw Pandora he fell in love with her and married her despite the warning. Epimetheus told Pandora to never open the box but eventually Pandora could not contain her curiosity and she opened the golden box. Up to that day, humanity had lived in a paradise free from worry and affliction but when the lid was lifted disease, despair and suffering flooded out into the world. Realizing what she had done, Pandora quickly lowered the lid. But it was too late and the world was forever changed.
But there is still more to the myth of Prometheus, Pandora and the fire theft. Some time later Pandora's curiosity sent her back to the golden box. Only one more thing remained inside. It was Hope. And when she lifted the lid for the final time, Hope came into the world.
