Comparison of Pandora's Box and Eve
There are many similarities between the stories of Adam and Eve and Pandora and Epimetheus. In particular it is the roles the two women play in both stories. It is due to curiosity that both women succumb to God’s wrath. However, instead of being created by one god, Pandora was created by all of the Greek god’s. Both Eve and Pandora were warned not to disobey the orders of their Gods. For Eve, God told her not to eat an apple from the tree of knowledge. While the Greek Gods told Pandora not to open a box that contained evil. They both disobeyed and received punishment for disobeying. These myths portray women as the root to all evil because in the story of Adam and Eve, she ate an apple from the tree of knowledge due to temptation from a snake. By gaining this knowledge Adam and Eve became aware of their surroundings and covered themselves up. God, aware that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge banish them from the haven. In Pandoras case, she was a gift to Epimetheus because Prometheus had wronged Zeus by stealing fire. She was told to not open a box containing evil by Zeus, but she disobeyed. Evil and disease came out of the box, and once she closed it the only thing remaining inside the box was hope. In a sense, I feel that religion is a tool used to oppress women because in both cases the women are set onto earth after man was created, and they were the causes of their own demise.
In the two stories, women are referred to as sexual temptations for the men. This being said, in the story between Pandora and Epimetheus, when she was first created man could not lay their eyes off her. Finally she was presented before Epimetheus and thus led to their marriage and sex. In the story of Adam and Eve, Eve was introduced as something for man to cling on as his wife. Thus, another representation of unity between the
In the two stories, women are referred to as sexual temptations for the men. This being said, in the story between Pandora and Epimetheus, when she was first created man could not lay their eyes off her. Finally she was presented before Epimetheus and thus led to their marriage and sex. In the story of Adam and Eve, Eve was introduced as something for man to cling on as his wife. Thus, another representation of unity between the