Finding Pandora arose from my dissatisfaction with the traditional myth of Pandora's Box. I often heard the story told this way — Pandora received a box from Zeus and she was told not to open it, but it looked like a fancy gift box and she thought it might have some goodies inside it, so she opened it. Out of the box flew a host of evil spirits like death and disease and so she doomed mankind. It's both a "curiosity killed the cat" story and a misogynist warning that women can't be trusted. I found both those ideas repulsive.
In researching the myth further, the first thing I discovered is that an ancient Greek storyteller changed the word pithos to pyxis. What Pandora opened wasn't a box, it was a jar. Pithos were used to store water or food, partially submerged in the earth to stay cool. I started to wonder if some of other traditional interpretations were equally misguided.
I soon learned that Pandora wasn't just any woman, she was the first woman. Her name means "Giving All" and she had many talents to share with the world. Pandora is a Mother Earth figure, depicted on ancient vases and jars. You can imagine her teaching beekeeping or plant medicine. As a longtime symbol of giving and fertility, how could she become the wretched figure who released evil on the world? We can blame Zeus, who loved causing trouble for humans, or we can imagine another way to read the story of Pandora's Box. All it takes is a little reframing.
What if Hesiod read the text wrong and it wasn't death and disease she released? Let's say that they were, in fact, in the jar. What do they represent? It's submerged in the Earth, so that's the subconscious. Pandora is looking into the darkness, exploring her shadow self. She can't face the suffering of the world, so she turns within and finds courage in darkness. Maybe she even climbs into the jar. Maybe she buries herself. When she emerges, she's no longer afraid, she knows it's not her responsibility to save everyone. Maybe she doesn't have to Give All, all the time.
She returns from the darkness, from the cold, dark earth holding the one thing no one can take from her — Hope — and so she shares hope with the world.
Once you read it this way, the other version sounds trite. Read Finding Pandora on page 95 of Flywheels.
