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Pandora Facts & Worksheets

Pandora is the first mortal woman made by Zeus in Greek mythology. She is known for releasing evil into the world.

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The first mortal woman in Greek mythology, who was made by Zeus, was Pandora. She was known for releasing all the evils in the world.

See the fact file below for more information on Pandora, or you can download our 24-page Pandora worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Background

  • One of Prometheus’ tasks was to mold people out of mud.
  • His clay figures came to life when Athena breathed on them.
  • Prometheus always wanted to make people’s lives better, but this only ended up creating conflict between him and Zeus.
  • When Prometheus tricked Zeus and stole fire from the gods and goddesses, Zeus was so angry that he vowed to get revenge.
  • He wanted to remind people that humans would never be superior to the gods and goddesses.
  • Among the humans, no females were made. As revenge, Zeus planned to introduce women.
  • He asked Hephaestus, with the help of other gods and goddesses, to create Pandora.
  • Hephaestus made a woman as beautiful as the goddesses, and Zeus was pleased.
  • When Hephaestus finished his creation, the gods and goddesses gave her abundant gifts.

Gifts for Pandora

  • Pandora, whose name means all-gifted or a gift to all, was created perfectly.
  • Just like her name implies, she received various presents from the gods and goddesses.
  • Hermes gifted her the ability to speak lies and the personality of an unloyal dog.
  • Aphrodite gave her elegance and unparalleled beauty for her to be irresistible.
  • Pandora learned crafting and weaving through Athena.
  • The Horae gave her a flowery head garland, while the Graces and the Peitho gave her gold necklaces. 
  • Apollo taught her how to sing and play the lyre.
  • A pearl necklace to save her from drowning was offered by Poseidon.
  • Hera gave her the gift of curiosity.
  • Tending the garden was Demeter’s gift to Pandora.
  • Pandora had a big beautiful storage jar called “pithos”, given by Hermes, a gift from Zeus that she was never allowed to open.
  • Mistranslations of the word pithos were casket, box, and jar.
  • In the end, the mistranslation was simplified as “box.” 

Pandora’s Story

  • Prometheus warned his brother, Epimetheus, to never accept any gifts from Zeus. However, Pandora’s beauty was irresistible, so Epimetheus married her and they had a child named Pyrrha.
  • Hermes came to their ceremony and informed Epimetheus that Pandora was a gift from Zeus, signifying his peace offering.
  • He also informed Epimetheus that the box received by Pandora before leaving for Earth was supposed to be her dowry for her wedding.
  • The two lived together happily; however, Pandora kept wondering what the jar given to her contained.
  • Everyday, even if Pandora kept fighting the urge to open the box, she still found herself walking past it and reaching the lid to open it.
  • However, as Zeus had predicted, Hera’s gift of curiosity worked on Pandora, and finally, she gave in the idea of opening it.
  • Pandora attempted to open the box by using the key hanging around her neck.
  • She lifted the lid for a short time, and before she knew it, she heard voices, and a terrible smell came out of the box.
  • As she became afraid, she slammed and closed the lid; however, it was too late.
  • She had already released all the things that Zeus stored in the box, which could cause a plague to humanity.
  • It contained everything that would cause trouble to people, such as illnesses, jealousy, famine, hatred, vices, war, toil, greed, old age, death, and anger.
  • As she put the lid back on, she managed to trap hope inside. This was the only good thing that Zeus included in the box.
  • This is why hope is the last thing people hold on to whenever they encounter problems in their lives.

Art

  • Many artists are inspired by Greek myths in creating masterpieces of gods and goddesses out of marble, sculptures, or through paintings. 
  • Among these are various art forms inspired by Pandora.
  • These art forms reflect different interpretations.
  • In some representations of Pandora, she is romanticized as someone beautiful and often represented as naked or semi-naked.
  • The image of Pandora also appeared in a few Attic vases inspired by Sophocles’ play, Pandora.
  • A red-figure krater during the 5th century BCE showed an image of Pandora emerging from the ground, symbolizing her coming from clay.
  • The well-known French painter Odilon Redon painted Pandora a couple of times. 
  • In his painting from ca. 1914, a naked image of Pandora was surrounded by beautiful flowers.
  • In the painting, it appears that Pandora is focused on a small box she’s holding. 
  • Paintings of Pandora are differentiated by the jar she holds.
  • A Filipino artist named David Medalla made a Cosmic Pandora Micro-Box (2010) by gathering random objects he found in Brazil. 
  • Some objects he used were socks, bar soap, and oyster shells.
  • He learned that ordinary objects could be associated with the myth of Pandora’s Box. 

Religion and Belief

  • Pandora can be compared to the Christian story about Adam and Eve. 
  • She was the first mortal woman in Ancient Greek myth, and so was Eve. Both women disobeyed their gods. 
  • According to other sources, Pandora convinced her consort to lift the lid of the box. This was similar to Eve, who tempted Adam to eat the forbidden apple. 
  • They both unleashed misfortune and ruined men in similar ways.

Analysis

  • The story of Pandora has been analysed in different ways.
  • Pandora, the “all-gifted” mortal, was someone every man would want in their life.
  • However, nobody is perfect because a person can’t have everything.
  • In life, the most beautiful things are the ones that are deceiving. 
  • Pandora’s curiosity ruined all of humanity.  
  • The perfectly harmonious human system, popularly known as the Golden Age, ended because of her actions. 
  • For some, the evils that came out of the box were viruses infecting the world. 
  • Hope, the antidote, which was supposed to prevent the plague, was locked inside the box.
  • The box represents humans’ control over worldly things, except for troubles and misfortunes.
  • Humans can only keep hope alive inside while withstanding the inevitable.

Pandora Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Pandora across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Pandora, the first mortal woman made by Zeus in Greek mythology.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Pandora Facts
  2. Pandora’s Truth
  3. Identification
  4. Story of Pandora
  5. Pandora’s Box
  6. Let’s Just Keep Them
  7. P-A-N-D-O-R-A
  8. Gifts
  9. Pandora’s Look
  10. This Is Pandora
  11. Why Hope?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was Pandora’s box created?

As Hesiod tells the story, when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus–the king of the gods–took action by giving Pandora to Prometheus’ brother Epimetheus. Once Pandora opened the jar she was supposed to watch over, sickness, death, and many other unspecified problems were unleashed into our world.

Was Pandora good or evil?

The woman known as Pandora in Greek mythology was the one who released evil into the world, which led to mankind’s destruction. Zeus, king of the gods, dispatched Pandora to earth in order to get revenge on Prometheus, the Titan.

Who are Pandora’s siblings?

Pandora had several sisters, among them Procris, Creusa, Oreithyia, Chthonia, and Merope. Pandora’s brothers were Cecrops, Pandorus, Metion, Orneus, Thespius Eupalamus , and Sicyon.

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Link will appear as Pandora Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, September 14, 2022

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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