Pandora's Box

The story begins with the Titan Prometheus, who sided with the gods against the Titans, and then went on to create man. Prometheus, seeking a form of protection for man, gave them fire, defying Zeus' will. For this, Prometheus was punished, being tied to mountain while an eagle feasted on his liver. Each day his liver would grow back, and the eagle would feast on it again. Zeus, deciding that man needed also to be punished for accepting the gift of flame, put a plan into motion. [[Pandora]] [[Narrative: The Exposition and Characters]]

To punish man, Zeus created the woman Pandora, who received gifts of beauty, wisdom, kindness, and health from the gods, and gifted her to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. Although Epimetheus had been warned against the trickery of the gods by his brother, he was taken by Pandora's beauty, and they married. As a wedding gift, Zeus gave Pandora a jar, and warned her never to open it. And Pandora, having been created by the gods to be curious, found herself struggling with urge to know the content of the jar. [[The decision]] [[Narrative: Rising Action]]

The story of Prometheus and his punishment serve to set up the story of Pandora, and give context to the actions of the gods. This being a creation myth for the miseries of the world, the gifting and acceptance of fire create an act for Zeus to punish. I would place Zeus as the "villain" of the story, being the driver of the events and the one who is ultimately responsible for unleashing the pains and blights in the box. The "hero" is a bit harder to pinpoint, but I would say that it is Pandora. The story is named after her, but besides that, she is the main focus of the story, having been created by the gods in a roundabout way of punishing man, and her slamming down the lid on the box is what allows mankind to hold on to Hope. Prometheus, Ephimetheus, and the other gods play roles in this story, but they are mostly background characters to serve the purposes of either Pandora, Zeus, or both in the narrative.

Pandora fingers touched the tip of the jar, and she hesitated for a moment. She </i had /i> been warned not to open it, but then, she reasoned, why else would Zeus have given it to her? Surely it was harmless. And besides, she thought, it would only be a peek. [[What could it hurt?]] [[Don't give in]] [[Narrative: The Climax]]

The decision was made. What could possibly be so dangerous about such a small, unassuming jar? It was keeping her up at night,just the thought of what could be in there. She grasped the lid and edged it open, then peered inside. The content of the jar laid bare, she tried to slam the lid back down, but... [[The miseries of man]] [[Wait, what was that?]]

A sense of foreboding crept over her even as her fingers touched the lid of the jar. Whatever was inside couldn't be good, she decided. So, instead of opening it she put her ear to the side. What she heard was the writhing, muttering evil miseries cramped inside, waiting for the slightest crack to be sent free, and she knew then that the gods had planned for this, had intended for her to open the jar and unleash its contents as punishment for mankind. So she set the jar down and walked away, vowing to never give in to her morbid curiosity. If the gods wanted to give punishment, they would have to lay it down themselves. [[Punishment]]

The plot thickens as Zeus created Pandora, giving her all the gifts to be appealing to Epimetheus while also making her curious. The titular "box" also is introduced, though in actuality it's a jar, and this leads up to the climax of Pandora finally giving into her curiosity and opening the jar.

Pandora tried desperately to slam the lid back down, but it was too late. Out into the world rushed Disease, Famine, War, Anger, thousands of maladies and afflictions, now set free to torment mankind for all time. As the last of the blights seeped out into the world, Pandora managed to slam the lid back down. Hearing a slight rustling from inside, she risked another glance. Hope fluttered its wings, the only thing to remain inside the jar. The wickedness released by the jar had been let out, but mankind could still hold onto Hope. [[Narrative: Denouement 1]]

Pandora slammed the lid down, breathing heavily from the sheer excitement of it all, and then stopped, looking at the jar expectantly. The insides had been a little too dark for her to see completely, but she had been able to make out some vaguely round shapes and a distinctly sweet smell. The jar did not move. Gingerly, Pandora edged the lid open again. Even more curious now, she slowly lowered her hand into the jar and pulled out one of the objects that lay within, revealing it to the open air. She blinked once, then twice, perplexed, then shrugged and took a bite. What was so dangerous about a jar of cookies? [[Meanwhile...]]

The climax of Pandora's Box is Pandora opening the box, as it pays off on the setup of the creation of Pandora and the gifting of the jar, as well as serving as Zeus' planned punishment for mankind. The problem created is that all of the bad that life has to offer is unleashed, leading into the denouement.

Thing were looking up, Zeus thought cheerfully as he reclined on his throne atop Mount Olympus. Prometheus had been punished, mankind was soon to follow, and Zeus' various...indiscretions with mortals had been carefully kept from Hera. Yes, he thought, all he needed now was for foolish little Pandora to open the box, and all would be right in the world. In the meantime, however, he would settle for a snack. He reached lazily for his jar of cookies, plucking open the lid and reaching for a cookie. He was unprepared then, when a stream of blights and maladies rushed forth, engulfing him in a miserable cloud of death and disease. [[Zeus' plight]]

Zeus sat with his face in his hands as Fear tugged at his hair and Famine poked his stomach. Apollo was chasing Greed around fruitlessly as Ares and Hephaestus glowered at each other, egged on by Hatred. Listlessly, Zeus grabbed at Disease and stuffed it back into the jar. Thankfully, Hope had still been fluttering around in there when Zeus had finally managed to close the lid, but it had been a close thing. Zeus started to perk up a bit. After all, it wouldn't be hard for a god like him to simply gather up all of the miseries and dump them onto mankind where they belonged. The bit of trickery with Pandora had failed, but endgoal would remain the same. So, he thought, there was no need to wor- "ZEUS!" Zeus paled, looking up to find Hera striding towards him, Envy whispering into her ear from her shoulder. Hope slipped out of the jar and patted him on the cheek before leaving him to his fate. [[Narrative: Denouement 2]]

Zeus peered down from his throne on Mount Olympus. He had been sure that Pandora's curiosity would have led her to open the box by now, and yet no miseries roamed the earth, driving men into squalor and misfortune. No diseases plagued them, and no war ravaged their lands. No, mankind was having a blessed existence, free of famine, of greed, of envy, bolstered by their stolen flame. Zeus looked then to Epimetheus and Pandora, and saw them living in bliss, the jar left forgotten. Enraged, he cast down a bolt of lightning, shattering the jar, releasing the sorrows of man. Another bolt struck down Pandora. If she would not serve her intended purpose, then there was no more use for her. "As the Fates intended." Zeus intoned gravely, as he watched the world descend into madness. There was no Hope, having vanished in a flash of lightning. [[Narrative: Denouement 3]]

In the original version of the story, the climax is when Pandora opens the box, and the problem - the hardships of life being released - is not "solved", so to speak, but rather it just plays out. The story then ends with somewhat of a solution when Pandora slams the lid back down, managing to hold onto Hope, allowing mankind to withstand hardships of life. [[Restart ->The Beginning]]

This second ending stems from Pandora's decision to open the box. For this one, I wanted a more humorous tone to counteract the gloom of the default tale, and I happened upon the idea of the Greek gods being flawed. And if they make mistakes just like we mortals do, then who's to say that they couldn't, say, get a few different jars mixed up? As a secondary, I also wanted to see Zeus get some comeuppance for his various misdeeds. Rarely in Greek myth will the gods ever face any sort of consequences for their actions, not matter how unjustified they are, so I wanted to create a way for Zeus' misdeeds to bite him in the ass. So, his plan goes awry because he is a flawed being, and Hera finds out about the fact that Zeus just cannot keep his godly thunder dick to himself. [[Restart ->The Beginning]]

The point of divergence here is Pandora deciding against opening the jar. Part of the original Pandora's Box myth that always struck me as wrong is that Pandora seems to always take the blame for it, when it's Zeus' plan and he created her for the sole purpose of enacting it. The gods being all-powerful beings who are set on unleashing these horrors upon man as punishment, I saw something of an absence of hope in the story, because if the gods want something, they're going to get it (Ex. - Zeus transforming himself into various animals and/or inanimate objects so he can sex up some pretty mortal). So, if the gods want to punish mankind, I thought, it's probably going to happen regardless of Pandora's decision. [[Restart ->The Beginning]]

''Pandora's Box'' Andrew Zhou [[Start ->The Beginning]]