Prometheus And Pandora's Box Analysis

Rebellion, injustice, curiosity and revenge are all characteristics of Edith Hamilton’s interpretation of Prometheus and Pandora’s box. The readers are first introduced to Prometheus when Hamilton addresses he was in Zeus’s army fighting against the Titans even though Prometheus was a Titan himself. After Zeus and his army won the battle against the powerful Titans, him and others conquered the earth and soon jumped into the era of the golden age. Zeus eventually notices Prometheus was rebelling against him when he found out he had been stealing fire for other men and was not giving the gods their fair share of animal sacrifices. In order to get revenge on Prometheus, Zeus created what he thought was a “great evil for men”; he created a woman …show more content…
One day the gods gave her a box filled with the most harmful things and they forbade her to open it.As a gift from the gods, they gave Pandora away to Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother. Prometheus warned his brother not to accept anything from Zeus but he did it anyway. One day Pandora lifted the lid from the box and every evil known to man was released into the earth. Such things as plagues, sorrow and mischief were released into the air, however the only good thing that was in the box was hope. Next, Zeus sent one of his servants to capture Prometheus and make him reveal important information that would affect Zeus in the future. Fate describes Zeus being overthrown by one his sons who would eventually kick the gods out from their home in the heavens and only Prometheus knew who would be the mother of his son. Prometheus was eventually freed and became known as a rebel against authority of power and …show more content…
This part came right before the introduction of Prometheus which is the only reason why I read it, so I could understand Prometheus’ background. The way the greeks think the world was created is so different from the bible. What really threw me off was the way Love made its debut on the earth by hatching from an egg and when it hatched it created light which became known as day. On page 77 it says “Forth sprang Love, the longed-for, shining, with wings of gold”(Hamilton). This particular line makes me believe that Love is just a bird who hatched from its egg which represents the first sign of life on earth.The greeks believed the earth literally created itself naturally. However, Genesis one in the bible says that god ultimately created everything on earth. Its interesting to see different perspectives and it makes me question which interpretation is the most accurate. What I did not like about this reading is the Greeks’ approval on sexism. Zeus only created Pandora to get revenge on Prometheus. Zeus describes her as “a great evil for men, a sweet and lovely thing to look upon, a beautiful disaster, with a nature to do evil” (Hamilton 88). Pandora is described as an evil woman because her looks are an obstacle for men. The words sweet and lovely imply that she needs special attention and the fact