Pandora (all gifted and all giving) — her very presence a word of ironic malediction — was a creation of the full wroth of Greek G*Ds toward humanity for Prometheus’ theft of their fire. Pandora was deliberately sculpted by the G*Ds from clay to be a trophy like the Trojan Horse. Once accepted, a mysterious Jar that the G*Ds sent with her would come into play.
And it came to pass: Prometheus’ competitive brother, Epimetheus (better at second-guessing than a first consideration), gives in to the temptation that was Pandora.
There are a variety of strands from which Pandora’s story came and into which it split. There are plenty of contradictory tales. In some tellings, it was Epimetheus who opened the mysterious Jar that came with Pandora, a container of disaster spoken of in the greatest of vague terms. Being made from clay also reflects on Pandora being an anti-’adam — unfortunately, contributing to the too-long history of patriarchy.
Among the gifts bestowed upon Pandora by multiple G*Ds is Hermes’ naming of her and adding the skill of persuasive speech through sly lies. It is tempting to allegorize the old, old story that everyone thinks they know and, compare the multiple disasters from the Jar with those of the Trump “administration” that idolizes hyper-Capitalism. There will be no putting the disasters already set loose back in the Jar. There is only entering a time of experimentation of a new political order and economic structure.
Looking at the question of “hope” still trapped in the Jar provides a more evocative image with which to work.
Easy hope or false hope was to have been the crowning disaster sent by the G*Ds — even worse than the punishment of an eagle daily eating the liver of a bound Prometheus. Such magical hope delays any current action against a multitude of plagues past its effective counter to each disaster set loose and cycling through seasons and generations.
Imagine what needs doing in today’s political and economic environment without any hope. What needs your engagement only because it rings true, regardless of how it sits with your inborn and developed proclivities? This arena of participation is a call worth attending to. May you add your life as a catalyst into the opportunities you have, small as they may seem. In such a way will the future of humanity take root — and spread its wings. The humility of hopelessness is a hero’s happiness.