Like Eve in the Book of Genesis, Pandora is the first woman according to the Greek mythology. Also like Eve she is saddled with being the source of all human misery. Zeus, in his anger at Prometheus for stealing devine fire from the gods and giving it to man, created Pandora, the original femme fatale.
As in Genesis, the story of a war in Heaven between the Titans and the Olympians was the reason for strife. Prometheus, hated the Olympians for banishing the Titans to Tartarus. His primary love was for man. Zeus and the Olympians, required man to sacrifice animals to the gods. A portion was to go to the gods and a portion to man. Prometheus made a pile of juicy fat wrapped around bones and hid the meat beneath an ugly hide. Much to his ire, Zeus chose the fat and bones. To get even, Zeus kept fire from man. Prometheus went up to heaven and lit his torch from the sun and returned to Earth. He presented the fire to man.
Outraged at the gift of fire to man, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create a beautiful mortal, Pandora (All-gifted). Each Olympian god and godess gave Pandora a gift. Hermes gift was a deceptive heart and a lying tongue. Prometheus had warned his slow-witted brother Epimetheus about accepting gifts from Zeus, but Epimetheus was dazzled by Pandora's beautty. Pandora brought a container with her. She was forbidden from opening it. According to the story, her womanly curiosity won out and she opened the container. A legion of evil things, designed to afflict man, swarmed from the container and scattered over the entire earth. Hope was the only good thing in the container and it is said that hope kept mankind from perishing from the plagues in Pandora's box.
Zeus punished Prometheus, who knew who Zues' successor would be. Prometheus would not tell Zeus the secret. Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where an eagle would descend daily to peck at his liver (I hate that!). His liver would regenerate at night, but ages would pass and Prometheus would suffer the daily torture. In order for Prometheus to be released two conditions had to be met. First, an immortal would have to suffer death for Prometheus. And second, a mortal would have to slay the eagle and unchain Prometheus. In time, Chiron the Centaur, agreed to die for Prometheus. Mortal Heracles killed the eagle and released him from his bonds.
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