Speaking of fire, enter Pandora

In my last post about Prometheus, I suggested that his gift of fire could be imagined as the gift of consciousness as well as the literal technology of fire and fire making. I'm kind of kidding about Pandora, the first woman, but she does bring a heat that few of us can live without. Prometheus or the Olympians, take your pick of creators, made only males. Which has a lot to do with the failure of the three races of men that they created before ours.... they all died out. I guess when you're an immortal being who can incubate in your father's thigh or leap out of his forehead the animal mechanics of procreation can be overlooked.

Pandora, as this next installment reveals, is as complex and problematic as every other element in this myth. "Hope" you enjoy it and let me know what you think.

Pandora and the Gift of Fire

Fire belonged to the Gods and Zeus ordained that it remain their exclusive right.
Only the divine immortals could have warm hands or gaze into the flickering flames.
But clever Prometheus, champion of men, kindly looked over them and
Zeus, he simply could not obey.
He decided to give man fire.
Fire would separate man from the animals and insure his success.

Clever Prometheus went to his brother, impetuous Epimetheus, and said
“We are engaged in a battle of wits with Zeus.
I’ll make it simple for you.
Have nothing to do with him, and be especially wary of any gifts.
If it looks too good to be true, it is. Just say no.”

The divine blacksmith Hephaistos, son of Hera, made beautiful golden jewelry and objects of metal for the Olympians in his fiery workshop
And fire burned around the clock on the divine hearth at Mount Olympus.
Fire was not hard to find.
Clever Prometheus snatched a burning ember and hid it in the hollow stalk of a narthex,
A plant like the wild fennel that grows tall by roadsides near the sea.
Brandishing the stalk so the fire would not go out, clever Prometheus ran as if flying back to the men in their cold, dark camps
And gave them this divine gift.
Everybody was happy, even the nymphs and lusty satyrs, who burnt their beards trying to kiss the flame.

Zeus was outraged at the theft but not terribly surprised.
He had no love for the Titan duo or the men and he knew their weakness.
Zeus devised a plan, to match a gift with a gift.
The divine king molded earth and water and made Pandora, the first woman, and
She was a beautiful sight to see, with golden ringlets and trim ankles like a goddess.
The goddess Athena taught the woman weaving and crafts and
Aphrodite showered her with charms, and instilled her with a dangerous passion.
Mercurial Hermes gave Pandora a voice full of praise and promises, lies and wiles.
She was beautifully dressed, with garlands of flowers and a golden necklace on her breast.
Thus adorned, Pandora was sent to reckless Epimetheus.

When Epimetheus saw Pandora his heart went "pop" and without a thought about his brother’s warning,
He fell in love straight away.
Glowing with his great good fortune, the Titan took Pandora to the men, who also found her irresistible.

Until then men lived easy, without harsh toil or sickness,
And death came quietly with old age.
Clever Prometheus had all of the evils in the world, sickness and poverty and worry and fear
Sealed up in a great clay jar.
Pandora was greedy and curious and crafty as any man,
She sidled up to the great clay jar and opened the lid to peer inside.
A flock of terrors flew out, dark and shadowy and knocked her to the ground.
Pandora jumped up and quickly slammed the lid back down
But it was too late; the evil was done.

Ever since that moment, human beings suffer, and death no longer comes to most as a blissful sleep.

Hope with the golden wings was also in that great clay jar.
Some say that Hope was trapped under the lip, and flutters there alone
But others say that Hope escaped and roams the earth as well.

(But what about Prometheus you ask? Stay tuned).