Zeus was enraged with Prometheus for granting the mortals fire. The fire was reserved for the gods, and humankind must suffer the consequence of possessing unearthly things. From the moment humanity gained fire, they must lose something. Zeus started to scheme and plans to exact revenge on the humans, creating the most wonderful creation, a perfect woman. Pandora was blessed by the gods and was the perfect bait to have his revenge. Zeus gifted Pandora the gift of “curiosity” and a jar containing all the evil of the world. Zeus said to Pandora, “do not open this jar. It is a gift that should not be touched.” With that said, Pandora was sent to Epimetheus to be wed and would live on earth.
Pandora was curious and explored far and wide, but she could not forget about the jar Zeus gave. She often stops and pondered, “what secrets could be hidden in the jar?” On that fateful night, Pandora tip-toed into the garage and headed toward the jar. Holding the jar in her arms, she inspected with grave detail. “A little peek never hurts,” a voice whispered to her, assuring that everything would be fine. Pandora pries at the box with her nimble fingers, “Pop!” smoke filled the room, and all evil went freed.
Among them were Greed and Prejudice, a mischievous pair. Who went around to stir up trouble. Greed spout word to men, telling stories of faraway lands. Tales of gold and unknown riches filled the men with greed. Then in their ears, Prejudice whispered of the docile one-eyed beings in these lands, weakened by the gods. Men smiled and wanted to dominate and own all that the stories had to offer.
The seeds of greed and prejudice grew in men, consumed by their thoughts of superiority and blinded by riches. The fair-skinned men compared themselves to those from the new land, subjecting the docile cyclops to the standard of the fair-skinned men. The poor docile people, speaking the language of the foreigners, judged by an in-just system, were deemed weak in mind and spirit. The cyclops were forced off their land and made into slaves.
The fair-skinned men built tall white towers with the land and riches, limiting and guarding anyone who dares to challenge the towers. Generations past and the docile people were docile no more. They adapted and mastered the language of the foreigners. They protested and fought back against the towers, pushing through and finally seeing the view from above.
The men had no choice but to share the views of the white tower, but amongst themselves, they still whisper the weak and uncultured nature of the docile beings. Greed and Prejudice laughed. After all these years, their seeds have been engrained in the minds of men. Zeus glances down, seeing the fate of man. Men have not changed. They merely oppressed themselves. The evil release to the world was just human nature.
Analysis:
To analyze the aetiological myth, we must first define racial differences. Racial difference is a social construct, given meaning from the context of culture and environment. It was used in the 18th century as a justification of slavery and segregation. It was used to put down minorities and exsert the dominance of the Caucasian race in terms of social, political, economic and intellectual performance. The effects of racial differences continue into the 21 century in negative stereotyping, discrimination, and societal prejudice. (Racial Differences )
The concept of “other evils” from Pandora’s box was used in creating the new myth. It was used as a background for the characters “Greed” and “Prejudice,” who escaped from the jar. Using a well-known myth like Pandora’s box helps create connections of the origins of the new characters, linking fiction with the myth. In the myth of Pandora’s box, she was created and blessed by the gods and was given the gift of curiosity and a jar that men should never open. She married Epimetheus and lived on earth, where humans lived without trouble, sickness, pain, nor sorrow. Pandora was tempted to open the jar, and in the end, unleashes the misery and evils of the world, unable to take them back, leaving only “hope” in the jar. (Hesiod, Works and Days,115-125 ) The underlying cause of Racial Differences could be seen as stemming from greed and prejudice, which could be seen as “other evils” released by Pandora. I did not change much of the myth; instead added characters that stem from the myth. They are specified and used as the antagonist to relay the theme of Racial Differences.
The docile beings depicted in the myth were depicted as cyclops. They represent the minorities. The cyclopes were similar to humans. They live in a society, communicate with words and have a general resemblance to man except for the single eye. The trait difference of “one-eyed” represents the difference in skin colour. Changes were made to the nature of cyclops, which were usually depicted as violent, big and muscular. Instead, to fit the story, cyclops were portrayed as weakened by the god and live a peaceful life.
"We came to the land of the Kyklopes (Cyclopes) race, arrogant lawless beings who leave their livelihoods to the deathless gods …. They have no assemblies to debate in, they have no ancestral ordinances; they live in arching caves on the tops of high hills, and the head of each family heeds no other, but makes his own ordinances for wife and children.”( Homer, Odyssey 9. 110)
Through Odysseus’ accounts, cyclops were barbaric and uncultured. This is much like how native people were uncivilized by colonists in the 17th century. They were tricked and were taken advantage of by Odysseus and his crew. ( Homer, Odyssey 9.187 - 542) The portrayal of cheating and taken advantage of were similar to how minorities were tricked by false hope and signed way their lives to become slaves.
The emphasis of Zeus’ participation in giving the “present” and his vengeance on men created drama. The story was kept similar, but the presence of the deity is more prevalent than in the poem. Zeus being the King of God’s is also the god of fate. Having him impose the “gift” on humans represents the unchangeable fate of humanity. It further explains the reason behind bestowing evil on the humans – a punishment for tricking a god and taking fire. Zeus also appears at the end of the myth, smiling and talks about the unchanging fate and the nature of humanity, which is a good fit with his title of god of fate.
The character Greed was partially modelled after Midas, a wealthy king of Phrygia in Anatolia. He was famous for being greedy. He saved a follower of the god Dionysus and was granted a wish. He prayed for the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. The myth explains how his greedy desire quickly turns against him. He was unable to eat or drink as everything turned into gold. Being pitied by the god, he was instructed to wash his hands in the river to get rid of his power.(Fulgentius, Mythologies 2. 10) Midas is seen as incompetent and unable to help himself, falling for the same mistake again even after given a chance. Greed continues to act on a whim, encouraging men to take so much as their heart desires. To be dominant, try to own and claim everything, including land and people who are weaker than them. Greed imposes the image of Midas on to men, falling to desire and disregarding morals ending up in a position where greed will lead to his demise. Just as Midas does not learn, men repeat the mistakes of racial difference differently, not realizing their faults.
Ate, the spirit of delusion inspired the character Prejudice. She was described as the daughter of Zeus and was able to deceive even Zeus. (Homer, Iliad 19. 85) She represents reckless impulse and infatuation. In the myth, prejudice acts with bias and behaves rashly, being quick to conclude. Prejudice was able to use her voice and action to deceive man, and sway their action. Just like Ate, the fair-skinned men behaved rashly. They were quick to make assumptions. They were forcing their standards and language in a foreign country and expecting them to be known and thrive in that environment. The fair-skinned men believed themselves to be superior and that the foreigners were weak and less intellectually capable. Prejudice is very explicitly shown here and connects to the theme of racial difference.
The myth portrays how only incepting the thoughts of greed and prejudice in ones’ mind can affect so much. In the story, after encouraging them to seek riches and land, the two antagonists did not intervene with human’s decisions. The men were the ones who followed through and developed their own form of racial difference. It represents how easy greed can make someone disregard their morals and give in to urges. The fair-skinned men’s ill-treatment of the foreigners could be seen as prejudice. Testing intelligence with a different skill set than what they are accustomed to and using this to justifying slavery and segregation. This draws parallels to the mistreatment of African Americans in the 17th century.
The myth tells us that the superiority complex has not faded behind closed doors but rather shifted to a more closed-doored version. The final laugh from Greed and Prejudice is meant to be scornful and satirical, emphasizing the lack of change and deep rootedness of racial difference. It reflects on the slow progress of equality and how even with movements and more resources, it takes a long time for minorities to reach the top of the white tower.
The myth also plays into the theme of fate. The beginning of taking fire had already set the outcome of pandora opening the jar. The events that played out were already set in stone, just as how Zeus was not surprised but rather commented that it was just human nature.
Bibliography
“ATE.” ATE - Greek Goddess or Spirit of Blind Folly & Delusion (Roman Nefas), www.theoi.com/Daimon/Ate.html.
Fulgentius, Fabius Planciades, and Leslie George Whitbread. Fulgentius the Mythographer. Ohio State University Press, 1971.
Hesiod. The Works and Days and Theogony. Translated by Lamberton, Robert and Lombardo, Stanley, 1943- Indianapolis : Hackett Pub. Co. , 1993.
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by A.S. Kline , Poetry in Translation , 2009.
Homer, and W. Walter Merry. Homer. Odyssey. Clarendon Press, 1925.
“KYKLOPES.” CYCLOPES (Kyklopes) - One-Eyed Sicilian Giants of Greek Mythology, www.theoi.com/Gigante/GigantesKyklopes.html.
“MIDAS.” MIDAS - Phrygian King of Greek Mythology, www.theoi.com/Heros/Midas.html.
“Racial Differences .” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 3 Mar. 2021, www.encyclopedia.com/children/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/racial-differences.
“ZEUS - Greek God of the Sky, King of the Gods.” Theoi Greek Mythology, www.theoi.com/Olympios/Zeus.html.
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