Scribd
Upload
158 views3 pages

2 Pandora - Story - and - Worksheet

Pandora was created by Zeus as punishment for Prometheus stealing fire. Zeus gifted Pandora to Epimetheus with a mysterious box she was forbidden to open. Overcome by curiosity, Pandora opened the box, releasing all evils and diseases into the world. Only hope remained inside once Pandora had unleashed tragedy upon humanity.

Uploaded by

Brandon van Dam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
158 views3 pages

2 Pandora - Story - and - Worksheet

Pandora was created by Zeus as punishment for Prometheus stealing fire. Zeus gifted Pandora to Epimetheus with a mysterious box she was forbidden to open. Overcome by curiosity, Pandora opened the box, releasing all evils and diseases into the world. Only hope remained inside once Pandora had unleashed tragedy upon humanity.

Uploaded by

Brandon van Dam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Pandora

In ancient Greece there were two brothers named Epimetheus and Prometheus. They upset the gods
and annoyed the most powerful of all Gods, Zeus, in particular. This was not the first time humans had
upset Zeus, and once before, as punishment, he had taken from humans the ability to make fire. This
meant they could no longer cook their meat and could not keep themselves warm.

However, Prometheus was clever and he knew that, on the Isle of Lemnos, lived Hephaestus, the god
who was a blacksmith. He had a fire burning to keep his forge hot. Prometheus travelled to Lemnos and
stole fire from the blacksmith. Zeus was furious and decided that humans had to be punished once and
for all for their lack of respect.

Zeus came up with a very cunning plan to punish the two brothers. With the help of Hephaestus, he
created a woman from clay. The goddess Athena then breathed life into the clay, Aphrodite made her
very beautiful and Hermes taught her how to be both charming and deceitful. Zeus called her Pandora
and sent her as a gift to Epimetheus.

His brother Prometheus had warned him not to accept any gifts from the gods but Epimetheus was
completely charmed by the woman and thought Pandora was so beautiful that she could never cause
any harm, so he agreed to marry her.

Zeus, pleased that his trap was working, gave Pandora a wedding gift of a beautiful box. There was one
very, very important condition however, that she must never opened the box. Pandora was very curious
about the contents of the box but she had promised that she would never open it.

All she could think about was; what could be in the box? She could not understand why someone would
send her a box if she could not see what was in it. It seemed to make no sense at all to her and she could
think of nothing else but of opening the box and unlocking its secrets. This was just what Zeus had
planned.

Finally, Pandora could stand it no longer. When she knew Epimetheus was out of sight, she crept up to
the box, took the huge key off the high shelf, fitted it carefully into the lock and turned it. But, at the last
moment, she felt a pang of guilt, imagined how angry her husband would be and quickly locked the box
again without opening the lid and put the key back where she had found it. Three more times she did
this until, at last, she knew she had to look inside or she would go completely mad!

She took the key, slid it into the lock and turned it. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and slowly
lifted the lid of the box. She opened her eyes and looked into the box, expecting to see fine silks, gowns
or gold bracelets and necklaces or even piles of gold coins.

But there was no gleam of gold or treasure. There were no shining bracelets and not one beautiful
dress! The look of excitement on her face quickly turned to one of disappointment and then horror. For
Zeus had packed the box full of all the terrible evils he could think of. Out of the box poured disease and
poverty. Out came misery, out came death, out came sadness - all shaped like tiny buzzing moths.
The creatures stung Pandora over and over again and she slammed the lid shut. Epimetheus ran into the
room to see why she was crying in pain. Pandora could still hear a voice calling to her from the box,
pleading with her to be let out. Epimetheus agreed that nothing inside the box could be worse than the
horrors that had already been released, so they opened the lid once more.

All that remained in the box was Hope. It fluttered from the box like a beautiful dragonfly, touching the
wounds created by the evil creatures, and healing them. Even though Pandora had released pain and
suffering upon the world, she had also allowed Hope to follow them.

Questions
1 This is an example of an origin myth, because something originated from this story. Explain all
of the things that came because of this myth and what was the cause of it all coming? In other
words, what character trait did Pandora have that caused her to open the box and what are all
of the things that came out of it? Use examples from the text to back up your reasoning.

2 What is the moral of this story or theme of this piece? Use examples from the text to back up
your reasoning.

3 What do you think the author was trying to do when they were writing this story? What were
they trying to teach their audience? Remember these are people that believed and worshipped
Greek gods and goddesses. They believed in rituals and sacrifices. Use examples from the text
to back up your reasoning.

4 What can you infer is Zeus’s reasoning for putting that box on the earth? You will most likely
need to click on Prometheus in order to get a better understanding of this question. Use
examples from the text to back up your reasoning.

5 Write a short summary of the story; make sure to focus on the main details only? Use
examples from the text to back up your reasoning.

6 What is the example of a simile that is put in this story? What impact does it have on the
story? How would it affect the audience? How did it affect you? Use examples from the text
to back up your reasoning.

7 Why do you think that Zeus gave the world hope? What can you infer are his reasons behind
why he would do that? If necessary, click on Zeus to help you answer this question.

8 What can you imagine, based on this story, the world was like before Pandora’s little box? Use
examples from the text to back up your reasoning.

You might also like