This week I had to do a class presentation on the myth of
Prometheus and Pandora as it features in the writings of the Greek poet Hesiod.
The myth is quite difficult to grasp and has been interpreted in various
different ways. I would suggest reading the writings of the Greek poet Hesiod
(Theogony and Works and Days) as it is also important to consider it within the
context of the entire work. I have only read the English translation, which
limits my ability to accurately render the poet’s intent. Nevertheless, I would
like to offer my own interpretation, supplemented by class discussions as well
as secondary literature by the hands of Dr L.G. Canevaro and S. Nelson. The
translation I worked from is by M.L. West. My interpretation goes hand in hand
with my personal experiences, which is perhaps most important to get any value
from the mythology that I study.
Prometheus is a character that represents foresight. He has
a brother, Epimetheus, who represents hindsight. From what I understand, they were
not mortals but represented mankind. Prometheus tried to trick Zeus through
unfair division of portions of a slaughtered animal. This angered Zeus, which
caused him to take away “untiring fire” from mankind. Prometheus stole back a “far-beaconing
flare” of untiring fire for mankind, which he hid in a fennel stalk. As
punishment, Zeus gave mankind Pandora, who represents women. She was adorned by
all the gifts from the various gods but had a thievish nature. Epimetheus was
stupid enough to accept the gift of Pandora.
This let out all the evils in the world because Pandora
unstopped the jar. However, she closed the lid on “elpis” (usually interpreted
as hope but more accurately translated as expectation) which remained in the
jar by the providence of Zeus. In the work of Hesiod, men of the Iron Age have
to work for a living because of the progressive deterioration of mankind. (Read more on the mythology of the ages here.) In
this context, women are not to be trusted; they might deceive you through their
appearances but only be interested in your wealth. The best way to deal with
them is to keep them close, control them, or alternatively make a good choice.
A good woman can be worth gold.
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| Image by André Koekemoer |
The myth has been interpreted along the lines of hope as something positive to help us deal with all the evils in the
world. The poet has also been described as a misogynist. However, I think that
there is much more to the myth of Pandora. I cannot disregard the Freudian
association of Pandora’s jar. She hypnotises men but the desire to have her can
never be fulfilled. Looking at it that way, expectation remains safe in the jar
because man doesn’t have access to it. Pandora is a trick in response to
Prometheus’ trick of unfair division of portions. Because of expectation or
hope of fulfilment that is beyond man’s reach, the evils have flown out into
the world, out of control. The punishment of the gods is due to Pandora consuming the wealth of man while he has to work for a living.
The portion of fire stolen back by Prometheus could shed
some light on what this myth means. Untiring fire belonged to mankind to start
with, but after the trickery man only acquired a far-beaconing flare of it. This
represents the advent of ego consciousness, which explains the need to control
and possess what is a gift that can never belong to us anyway. The illusion
lies in the fact that we are lured to what we desire but we cannot have it.
Because of the continual expectation that having something would mean
fulfilment of the desire, living is hard work. The world is a place filled with
evils because everyone has to fight to get a portion of the value that deceives us. The story of Pandora is not only man’s dilemma, but the world we
have created together where fulfilment is always on the horizon. The more we
try to acquire what we value, the more it consumes us. Man might think himself
to be cunning, but only in looking back do we see the chaos we have created by
our short-sightedness.
After the class presentation and completing my week’s worth
of planned studies, I had an empty space of a couple of hours’ time while
waiting for my partner to arrive home. As the world moves at an ever faster
pace, I become increasingly aware of the need to use every spare moment to
create something valuable. I never seem to have enough time, and yet this empty
stretch felt threatening. I have had something in mind that I wanted to draw
but I couldn’t bring myself to use this space to work on the project. I was
tired but that wasn’t what prevented me from getting to work since creative expression
usually gives me energy. It was fear that stood in my way.
I have worked hard to move past my fear of failure. Since I
wouldn’t be doing it to achieve anything I had trouble understanding what I was
afraid of. I realised that it was the fear of beauty which stood in my way.
Mankind’s response to Pandora, the gift from the gods, was not only the tension
experienced by men in response to what they desire. She represents the beauty
in everything that is God given and our own fear that we might not live up to
what we appreciate in something outside of ourselves. I felt afraid of drawing
something because I wanted it to represent the beautiful image in my mind’s eye
and was afraid that it wouldn’t. The fear is of not being worthy of the beauty
in creation that has been given to me for free as an act of love. It is because
of beauty that we fear being inadequate, in response to which we continually
need to prove ourselves through being better or having more.
Maybe if we learn to accept the gifts from the gods without
allowing the perception of only being a far-beaconing flare of untiring fire to
stand in our way, we could start reversing the trick of unfair divisions of
portions.
