Zeus ordered his son Hephaestus to make the first woman. After Hephaestus had created woman in the shape of a lovely goddess, the Four Winds breathed life into her.
Then each god and goddess gave her a gift to make her even more appealing to man. Aphrodite gave her great beauty, and other gods and goddesses gave her the talent for music and the power of persuasion, among other gifts. Next they adorned their creation with silvery robes and a crown of gold and named her Pandora, which means "gift-of-all."
Finally Zeus gave Pandora his gift- curiosity. He also gave her a sealed jar and warned her not to open it.
Now Zeus could put his plan to work. He sent Pandora to earth, accompanied by the god Hermes, who gave Pandora to Epimetheus as a present from Zeus.
Epimetheus was immediately charmed by Pandora and wanted to marry her. But Prometheus, his brother, had told Epimetheus, "Zeus is full of tricks. Please, brother, do not accept any of his gifts."
Epimetheus, however, was so dazzled by Pandora's beauty and talents that he did not heed his brother's advice. Soon he and Pandora married and made a home together.
Epimetheus and Pandora lived happily, but sometimes Pandora was troubled. She would look at the sealed jar, thinking, I wonder what is in it. Why did Zeus give it to me if he didn't want me to have what it contains?
Every day she had to force herself to walk past the jar without opening it. It must contain something very precious or unusual, she thought.
At last her curiosity became so overwhelming that she ignored Zeus's warning. I'll just take one quick look.
She tugged and tugged at the lid of the jar, and finally it opened. Out flew a buzzing cloud of evils. Disease and envy, spite and revenge, anxiety and misfortune swarmed around her head. She batted at them and shouted, "Shoo! Shoo!" while she struggled to put back the lid. But all the evils had flown out of the house and into the world to plague mankind forever.
When at last Pandora succeeded in clamping down the lid, only hope was left in the jar, and that was a fortunate thing. For no matter how many evils people must contend with, hope gives them the ability to endure.
From Greek Gods and Heroes by Alice Low
Illustrations by Arvis Stewart
Simon and Schuster, Books for Young Readers 1985
Macmillan publishing Company New York