Pandora, the first mortal woman in Greek mythology, was molded from earth by Hephaestus following the instructions of Zeus, to give humanity a punishing gift, a beautiful evil, to compensate for the boon of fire they had been given by Prometheus.

According to legend the Titan Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were assigned the task of creating the race of man and all the animals and equip them with the necessary means to survive. As instructed, the brothers made all the animals and equipped them with different gifts like, wings, claws, sharp and strong teeth, agility, speed, physical strength and others, so that they could protect themselves and survive. However, when the turn of men came, they found that they had used all the resources and nothing was left for the man. At that point of time, Prometheus hit upon a plan. He went back to heaven, lighted his torch at the chariot of the Sun and brought the gift of fire to earth for man. The gift made man more powerful than any other animal, with which they could keep themselves warm, make tools and weapons and create the civilization.

However, this action of Prometheus earned the wrath of Zeus, as he stole the fire from heaven and sentenced him to be chained to a rock, where each day an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, would fly to eat Prometheus' liver, which would grow up overnight, to be eaten again on the next day. Much later, Prometheus was freed by Heracles or Hercules, but that is another story.

After punishing Prometheus, Zeus decided to give humanity a punishing gift to compensate for the boon they had been given and instructed Hephaestus, the god of artisans, to mold from earth the first woman, a beautiful evil, who would appear irresistible to man and whose descendants would torment the human race forever. Once the body of the woman was ready, the Four Winds breathed life into it and she received gifts from all the Olympian gods. While Aphrodite gave to her grace, unparalleled beauty and the power to create burning desire, Hermes, the messenger god, gave her a cunning, deceitful mind and a crafty tongue. Athena dressed her with beautiful clothing and Poseidon bestowed on her a pearl necklace that would prevent her from drowning.

Apollo taught her to play the lyre and to sing. To give the final touches, Zeus gave her a foolish, mischievous and idle nature and Hera gave her the wiliest gift, curiosity. In addition to all the gifts, she was adorned with aesthetic jewellery by the Graces, crowned with a magnificent golden headband made by Hephaistos and given garlands of spring flowers by the Seasons. She was named Pandora and before being guided by Hermes to be presented to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus, she was given an intricately carved box, a gift from Zeus, with the instruction not to open the box in under any circumstances. She was named Pandora and before being guided by Hermes to be presented to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus, she was given an intricately carved box, with the instruction not to open the box under any circumstances.

Prometheus was aware that Zeus would try to take more revenge and he warned Epimetheus never to accept any gift from Zeus. However, once he looked at Pandora, Epimetheus became enchanted with her beauty and felt a burning desire in his heart, which was sufficient to make him ignore the specific warning of his brother. As a result, the beautiful Pandora was made welcome in Epimetheus’ home and the two married, having a daughter, Pyrrha.

Despite her happiness, Pandora could never forget the beautiful box gifted to her, which she did not open due to the associated warning. Finally, one day Hera’ gift of curiosity overtook her reasoning and she decided to have a brief look inside the box, when nobody was around. Turning the key slowly, she opened the lid of the box for the fraction of a moment and before she could see anything, she heard a hissing sound and a foul smell filled the air around her. Pandora became terrified and slammed the lid down, but it was too late. Unknowingly, she released all over the world all the evils stored in the box.

She knew that she was used as a pawn to release all the wickedness and malevolence that Zeus had locked into the box that would plague man forever with sickness, death, turmoil, strife, jealousy, hatred, famine, passion and much more. While repenting her action, Pandora took another look inside the box and discovered with delight that not all was lost, one thing remained inside, which is hope, the only good thing that Zeus had trapped inside the box, the thing that would live with man forever.