Where does the expression Pandora's box come from? What does the expression open Pandora's box mean?

Many people know the term “Pandora’s box”, the meaning of which goes back to legends Ancient Greece. This is very interesting myth with deep semantic meaning. The ancients believed that curiosity was one of the main vices. They said about a person who sticks his nose into other people's business that he is trying to open Pandora's box.

...It all started with the fact that the god Prometheus gave people fire, saving them from the cold and darkness of the night. was angry at this action. By order of the Supreme Olympian, Prometheus was chained to a rock. Every day an eagle flew in and pecked out Prometheus’s liver, but overnight it was restored again.

The wrath of Zeus fell not only on Prometheus, but also on people. Having received fire, the inhabitants of the earth gained independence from the gods and stopped worshiping them. To punish disobedient people, Zeus the Thunderer came up with an insidious plan...

Pandora's Box (myth)

Zeus ordered the creation of a young girl, beautiful and very curious. Many Olympian gods took part in its creation. Hephaestus mixed earth and water to fashion a body for her. Hermes breathed the soul into the girl, and Aphrodite gave her a seductive smile. Athena prepared a sparkling silver outfit for the first woman among mortals.

The girl received the name “Pandora,” which can be translated as “possessing all gifts.” The gods decided to give it to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. Epimetheus knew that he should not take gifts from Zeus, but he was fascinated by the manners and appearance of the young woman. Contrary to the advice of his brother, Epimetheus decided to take the girl as his wife.

Pandora's box has opened

A curious woman explored every corner of her husband's house. One day she came across a strange box made of dark wood that stood in the basement, near the farthest wall.

The box was tied with a silk gold cord. Pandora wanted to know from her husband what was in the box. However, Epimetheus said that under no circumstances should it be opened.

After waiting for her husband to leave the house, the woman pulled the lace and heard voices calling to her from the box. They opened the lid, and all kinds of diseases, misfortunes and troubles immediately flew out of it. Pandora desperately tried to slam the lid, but when she succeeded, only one creature with a broken wing remained inside the box.

The emergence of hope

Troubles and diseases spread among people, and Pandora and Epimetheus learned for the first time what fear and pain were. In a moment of despair, they heard the faint voice of the creature that remained locked in the box. The creature asked to be released and assured that it could heal any wounds. Considering that things couldn’t get any worse, Epimetheus decided to open the box.

The creature sitting at the bottom was hope. She healed pain and corrected all troubles. And now, from now on, behind every misfortune, behind every evil, hope always appears. But people should not expect it too quickly; sometimes hope is delayed by a broken wing.

What does the expression "Pandora's Box" mean? Allegorically, this is the source of various troubles and misfortunes. For many, this phraseological unit is extremely understandable and clear, but not many know the history of its origin.

The history of the phrase “Pandora's box” goes back to an ancient Greek legend. According to which, Zeus ruled the world from the sacred Olympus, and the people living on Earth did not know sorrow and troubles, they were happy and content. But on Earth they did not know fire. To help people, Prometheus stole the sacred fire from Olympus and brought it to Earth. For this offense, Zeus decided to punish not only Prometheus, but also the people who dared to use this gift.

According to myth, humanity originally consisted exclusively of men. The men led a carefree life, fought, had fun, sang and danced. But Zeus (god of the sky, thunder and lightning, in charge of the whole world, chief of the Olympian gods), as a punishment to people for the fire Prometheus stole for them, ordered Hephaestus (God of Fire) to create a woman.

To create a complex creature, Hephaestus attracted many gods, each of whom endowed her with a special gift. Athena, along with the Charites, dressed her in a sparkling dress and put a golden necklace around her neck. Aphrodite gave beauty, a seductive smile and a gentle voice. Hermes gifted him with intelligence, sweet speech, cunning and deceit. They called the “newborn” Pandora - “gifted by the gods.”

Mercury attributed the unearthly miracle to the brother of Prometheus, a titan named Epimetheus, which translated from Greek means “he who thinks later.” And despite the warnings of brother Prometheus: “Do not accept gifts from Zeus.” Epimetheus could not resist, because Pandora was so beautiful and seductive, and took the girl as his wife. Pandora was the first woman on Earth.

They spent the first days of their life together, walking serenely, holding hands, in the cool forest shade, among garlands of fragrant flowers, satisfying his hunger with juicy fruits that hung so low that it was enough to just stretch out his hand to pick them.

One evening, while dancing on the lawn, they saw the messenger of Jupiter, Mercury, approaching them. He walked slowly and tiredly, his clothes were covered with dust and stained with mud, and on his shoulders lay a chest, bending him to the ground with its weight.

Pandora stopped and, with feminine curiosity, began to wonder what could be in this huge chest. She whispered to Epimetus to find out what brought Mercury here. Epimetus complied with her request, but Mercury did not answer his question and only asked permission to leave the chest for safekeeping in their house, explaining that he was too tired to deliver it to its destination today, and promised to pick up the box soon. This permission was given to him. With a sigh of relief, Mercury put the chest in a corner and left, refusing the hospitable hosts' offer to rest and have a snack.

Epimetus kept his word without hesitation and continued to have fun. But Pandora wanted to look at the contents of the mysterious box. Epimetus, surprised and shocked by his wife’s desire, declared that it was impossible to violate the decrees of the gods. Epimetus hastened to call his wife to Fresh air, where their friends had fun and played, but for the first time Pandora rejected his proposal. Frustrated and discouraged, Epimethe left the house alone, hoping that she would soon join him.

Left alone with the mysterious chest, Pandora was burning with curiosity. She carefully approached him and began to look at him with interest. It was made of dark wood, and a head was carved on the lid, so skillfully that Pandora thought she was smiling and encouraging her. The box was tied with a shiny gold cord, which was tied in an intricate knot on the lid. Pandora, proud of her skillful fingers, had no doubt that she would be able to untie it, and thought that there would be nothing wrong if she just loosened the knot a little without looking under the lid.

From the box, sounds like whispers came to Pandora's ear. After she untied the knot, they became louder, and she, holding her breath, put her ear to the lid, wanting to make sure that these sounds were really coming from there. It’s easy to imagine her surprise when she heard the words spoken in a plaintive voice: “Pandora, dear Pandora! Have pity on us, release us from this dark prison! Open the lid, we beg you, open it!”

Pandora's heart beat so fast and loud that its beats momentarily drowned out all other sounds. And then familiar footsteps reached her ears. It was Epimetus. She knew he was coming to force her to leave the house. Assuming that she might not have time to release the plaintive creatures, she hastily opened its lid to see what was there.

The insidious Jupiter put all the diseases, troubles, vices and crimes into the chest, and as soon as the lid of the chest was slightly opened, they flew out and, under the guise of small creatures with brown wings, very similar to moths, began to circle around Epimetus, who entered the house, and around Pandora, biting and stinging them mercilessly. Then they flew out through the open windows and door and attacked Epimetus's friends, and their joyful cries immediately gave way to pitiful groans.

Before this, Epimetus and Pandora had never experienced pain or anger, but as soon as the winged evil spirits bit them, they began to cry and - alas! - for the first time in my life we ​​quarreled. Epimetus began to bitterly reproach his wife for her recklessness, but in the midst of his reproaches he suddenly heard a plaintive voice crying out for freedom. The voice came from the chest, the lid of which Pandora slammed shut as soon as she felt the first twinges of pain. “Open, open, I will heal your wounds! Please let me out of here,” the voice begged.

The unhappy spouses looked questioningly at each other and listened again. A plaintive voice again reached their ears, and Epimetus allowed his wife to open the lid and let out the one who asked to be free, adding that she had brought so much evil with her intolerable curiosity that it couldn’t get any worse. Pandora opened the box a second time. And a miracle, one of the gods, filled with pity for man, hid among the spirits of evil one good creature, Nadezhda, who began to heal the wounds inflicted by those who were sitting in the chest with her.

Nadezhda touched the bitten places on the bodies of Pandora and Epimetus, and the pain immediately subsided. After that, she quickly flew out the open window and began healing other victims of evil spirits, instilling cheerfulness in them.

Thus, according to the beliefs of the ancients, evil appeared in the world, bringing with it unbearable suffering, but hope always follows on its heels, helping suffering people and promising them a happy future.

Since then, people have forgotten many gods, but they have always revered Nadezhda.

Despite the fact that most people agree with the conclusion that women, like Pandora, do evil and are guilty of everything. Many experts consider history to be distorted by clergymen who have always hated women for their disobedience, poor suggestibility of religion, intelligence and insight, as the Inquisition wrote about in the Hammer of the Witches. Experts suggest that Pandora could have discovered not sorrow, but knowledge (just as Eve tasted the apple of wisdom), and dancing and carefree people simply began to realize their lives, looking at themselves critically. After all, you will agree that it is quite strange to endlessly dance and have fun in ecstasy. In addition, it was no longer reasonable to keep an unfamiliar object rather than check it; the situation could have turned out any way. And of course, not a single plaintive voice can leave a woman indifferent.

The myth of Pandora is one for the ages. A woman created to punish the human race accidentally releases evil into our world. Perhaps this is not a fairy tale for children at all. But what came out of Pandora's box? Who knew exactly what was inside and what would happen if it was opened? And who is Pandora? The mysterious first woman, the curious creation of the gods? Pandora's Box is a story that was written long before modern language, and perhaps may have misinterpretation. This myth is a warning that curiosity will not lead to good.

1. According to myth, Pandora was the first woman on Earth

When Prometheus stole fire from the gods, Pandora was created at the behest of Zeus as a punishment for humanity. One would think that Zeus had chosen a sufficient punishment for Prometheus, who was to spend eternity chained to a rock while birds pecked at his liver daily. But it seemed to Zeus that this was not enough and he decided to punish all of humanity. He instructed the god Hephaestus to fashion beautiful woman from clay. Pandora became the wife of Epimetheus (brother of Prometheus), and she brought with her one thing to the human world: a vessel full of evil. Of course, Zeus didn't tell Pandora what was inside the vessel; instead, he told her to never open it. But Pandora could not restrain herself and, driven by curiosity, stole the key from her husband and opened the vessel.

2. Pandora's Box May Have Actually Been a Sealed Ceramic Vase

In the Pandora myth, some details may have been lost. The earliest versions of the myth speak of a "sealed pottery vase" rather than a "box". What was given to Pandora was called "pithos", which roughly corresponds to "vessel". Pandora's Box was most likely Pandora's Vase.

3. The cause of all the troubles that befell the world was Pandora's curiosity

Like anyone else intelligent being, Pandora's curiosity was piqued when she was given a secret vessel, told never to open it, sent to earth to marry a stranger who had the key to the vessel. Unfortunately, the temptation was too great, so curiosity became the cause of evil in the world.

4. Pandora released all evil into the world and left hope at the bottom of the vessel

Diseases, anxiety, crime, hatred, envy and many other bad things were released from the vessel by Pandora. According to some versions of the myth, she tried so hard to close the vessel as quickly as possible that she left hope inside it.

5. Pandora was given gifts by various gods before she went to Earth. Her name translates to "gifted by all"

Despite the fact that Pandora was created only to punish humanity, Pandora was also gifted by the gods: Aphrodite gave her femininity, Athena taught her various crafts, and Hermes endowed her with traits such as stubbornness and curiosity (possibly at the behest of Zeus, who wanted Pandora to open the vessel).

6. The key to Pandora's vessel was given to Epimetheus by Zeus. Pandora stole the key from her husband while he was sleeping.

When Zeus sent Pandora to Earth, she married Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus. It seems strange that Zeus would give a beautiful woman to the brother of someone he hated, but Pandora was meant to be a punishment, so perhaps it was part of his larger plan. In fact, Prometheus warned his brother not to accept any gifts from the gods, but Epimetheus was too fascinated by the beauty of Pandora, which was created by the gods. Zeus entrusted Epimetheus with the key to Pandora's Box, which he refused to give to her. Eventually Pandora stole the key. Other versions of the myth say that Pandora simply broke the seal of pithos.

7. At the very beginning, Pandora seemed like a goddess who gives life, but soon everything changed

Pandora was originally seen as a life-giving goddess. The most known version The Pandora myth comes from Hesiod, who first wrote down the story. However, documents older than this version (such as depictions on pottery) suggest that Pandora did not mind being the cause of all evil because it meant that she was the source of fertility since birth and death did not exist before she released them .

8. It's possible that Hesiod, the man credited with first writing the Pandora myth, knew that through his work he had taken away women's power.

Hesiod is credited with being the first to write down the myth of Pandora. Unfortunately, the result of his creation is more than just a little bit of sexism: a woman is a punishment for man and unleashes all evil on Earth. Some argue that Hesiod did not know that Pandora was once a revered goddess; others believe that he knew exactly what he was doing and deliberately distorted history. Hesiod knew about the shift in power: from matriarchy to patriarchy, and this was his way of explaining the fall of women from power.

9. Like many ancient myths, the myth of Pandora was used as an explanation for evil in the world.

The myth of Pandora probably first appeared as an answer to the age-old question: why do people get sick and die? Why do bad things happen? Why do the gods allow this? Ironically, the story of Pandora arose from man's curiosity, the same trait that led to the release of evil throughout the world.

Every day we use many aphorisms and catch phrases, but do we know their origin and true meaning? Hardly. It’s always interesting to “dig” into the intricacies and secret meanings of a language, because sometimes entire legends can be contained in one phrase.

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Legend of Ancient Greece

Who is Pandora, what is this box and what meanings are hidden behind this phrase?

Everyone knows the myth of Prometheus, who gave people fire, taking it from the gods of Olympus. But not everyone knows that Pandora is also the heroine of this story.

The celestials decided to take revenge on the impudent Prometheus and chose for this original way– created a woman. Smacks of sexism, doesn't it? However, who cared about this during the times of Ancient Greece?

So, they created a woman whom each of the gods endowed with his own special gift - she could do everything and even more. Afterwards, the celestials decided to present this creation, which they called Pandora (in translation - gifted to everyone), to Prometheus, but he quickly realized that nothing good was worth expecting and rejected the gift. Then Pandora charmed Prometheus's brother, Epimetheus, and the latter married the girl.

Zeus decided that Prometheus must be punished one way or another, but since he was too vigilant, the lord of lightning decided to take a roundabout route - through his younger brother. He sent Epimetheus a closed box in which all vices, evil and diseases were contained. It was strictly forbidden to open the vessel.

This is where Pandora played her role.

Endowed with insatiable curiosity, she stole the box from her husband and opened it. All troubles broke free and fell upon the world. Pandora closed the box, but it was too late. When Epimetheus realized what had happened, he took the unfortunate box from his wife, but suddenly he heard a thin and weak voice from inside. Fighting with himself and thinking that things couldn’t get any worse, Prometheus’s brother opened the box again. And a faint but bright hope flew out of him. And so it happened - no matter what suffering befalls the human lot, there will always be hope next to them, and only people themselves decide which voice to listen to.

What do we do when we “open Pandora's box”?

Different people interpret the story of Pandora in their own way: some saw in the legend a hint of women’s short-sighted and unreliable nature, others - a warning about the consequences of rash actions, while others say that the moral of the story is that there is always hope, no matter how the circumstances turn out . What conclusion to draw is up to us to decide, thereby determining our own lives.

The plot and its development

In subsequent tradition

A white sheep was sacrificed to her.

The protagonist of Sophocles's satyr drama "Pandora, or the Hammers" and Nikofon's comedy "Pandora".

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See what "Pandora's Box" is in other dictionaries:

PANDORA'S BOX- “PANDORA’S BOX” (Die Buchse von Pandora), Germany, 1928, 120 min. Drama based on the plays of F. Wedekind Opinions about this film by the great German director Georg Wilhelm Pabst were radically divided. Most domestic historians... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema

Pandora's Box- From the poem “Works and Days” by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod (VIII-VII centuries BC). It contains the myth of Pandora (from Greek: “gifted by all”), a beautiful woman whom Zeus sent to earth to punish Prometheus, who stole fire from... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

Pandora's Box- noun, number of synonyms: 1 source of disasters (1) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

Pandora's Box- IN Greek mythology Pandora is the first woman created by the god of fire, Supreme Hephaestus. God Zeus gave her a box in which all human misfortunes were contained. Out of curiosity, Pandora opened the box, and all the troubles flew out of it and... ... Historical reference book of Russian Marxist

Pandora's Box- Book The source of misfortune, disaster. If Pandora's box with all the bad things is thrown at you, you won't be able to escape from everyone (Leskov. Laughter and grief). The year 1938, which managed to cause a lot of troubles and misfortunes in eleven months, was already just before... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language

Pandora's Box- Pandora's Box (filled with disasters). Wed. (A lie) one time... can be refuted, but if, according to all the rules of a siege, entire battalions, entire regiments are sent against you at once, a Pandora’s box with all sorts of nasty things will be thrown over you... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Pandora's Box- m. The source of all disasters. Ephraim's explanatory dictionary. T. F. Efremova. 2000... Modern Dictionary Russian language Efremova

Pandora's Box- a cave on the left bank of the river. White Iyus, in Kuznetsk Alatau (Khakassia). Length approx. 18 km, depth more than 180 m. The name is associated with the surprise of the discovery of the cave in the studied area and its mystery. A labyrinth-type cave in limestone... ... Geographical encyclopedia

Pandora's Box- Book The source of all kinds of disasters, misfortunes, troubles. /i> An expression from Hesiod’s poem (8th–7th centuries BC) “Works and Days,” which uses mythological motifs. BMS 1998, 653–654 ... Big dictionary Russian sayings

Pandora's Box- wing. sl. An expression that means: the source of misfortune, great disasters; arose from the poem “Works and Days” by the Greek poet Hesiod, which tells that people once lived without knowing any misfortunes, illnesses or old age, until Prometheus... ... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky