Pandora's Box

In my last entry I related one of many versions of the legend of Chang'e. My friend Hueina commented about how interesting it was than women (unjustly) bear the brunt of the ills of man in so many cultures. And she has a point. Being a man, this point sometimes slips by me. When posting the story of Chang'e, I was reminded of the story of Pandora's Box. Just to recap the story:

In Greek Mythology, Pandora was the first woman. After Prometheus steals the secret of fire from the gods, Zeus got pretty bent out of shape and ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora as part of the punishment for mankind (easy ladies, I am just relating the story. I did not invent it.) She was endowed with many gifts from the gods, such as beauty, seduction, and music. Her name, Pandora, means "the all gifted". Out of fear of reprisal, Prometheus warns his brother, Epimetheus, not to accept any gifts from Zeus, His brother married Pandora anyway. Along with Pandora came a box, the Box as it were, which Zeus instructed her never to open. Well, one day when Epimetheus was out, she opened it just a crack to see what was in there, and all the evils of the world rushed out in a flash. By the time she was able slam down the lid of the box, only Hope remained trapped in the bottom.

Now, Pandora got a bad rap out of all of this. Try this experiment with anyone one you know. Give them a box, tell them not to look, and take off somewhere for a while. What do YOU think will happen?

Let's fast forward to the modern times. See if you can relate to this. I cannot be alone in the same house alone with my Christmas present. If I even sense that a present is there, or see a scrap of loose wrapping paper in a remote corner on the floor, I am on the hunt. When my mother or sister has given me explicit instructions, "Don't go searching for your present!", all I hear is "Go searching!". If Pandora lasted 10 minutes with that box, she would have beaten me by five. And even hope wouldn't have been left on the bottom of that box.