Pandora's Box

In the early days of time, life was very different for humans. They did not need to worry about many of the evil things that exist today. That all changed one day, however, when the humans accepted the gift of fire from another lesser god. This greatly angered the most powerful god, Zeus, and he devised a meticulous plan to punish the foolish, inconsiderate humans. Zeus, your majesty. I hear you need my assistance? Yes, thank you for responding to my request. I need your help in sculpting an exquisite woman that I can send down from Mount Olympus to live among the humans. I need to teach them a necessary lesson! What kind of woman would you like me to create, sir? She must be beautiful like Aphrodite and be exceptionally talented with the gift of many arts from Athena. Last, but not least, make sure she has the irresistible gift of curiosity! That is essential! And, you need to be absolutely certain that she falls in love with Epimetheus, the brother of that traitor god, Prometheus! It would be a magnificent honor! Consider it done! At the marriage celebration of Pandora & Epimetheus True to his word, Hephaestus sculpted the beautiful woman Zeus had requested. She was named Pandora and was sent down from Mount Olympus to fallinlovewithEpimetheus,whichshedid. Beforetoo long, all of the humans and gods gathered together to celebrate the marriage of the two young people. This is the happiest day of my life! I can’t wait to commence my life with my new husband, I’m so glad I could be here to assist you celebrate this joyful day. I wanted to be certain that I presented you with my special gift in person! Pandora’s eyes grew wide with her curiosity as Zeus handed her a gleaming golden box with precious stones adorning the top and sides. He presented it to her with one simple warning to heed. Oh my goodness! This is so beautiful! Thank you so much! I’veneverreceivedsuchanexquisitegift. Ican’t wait to see what is inside! You are welcome, my dear. However, you are forbidden to open that box. It is yours, but it must always remain closed, at all cost! SCENE3: InthehomeofPandora&Epimetheus Pandora accepted the box with the unusual request. She tried to set in on a shelf in their house and forget about it. However, she found herself constantly thinking about it. She even moved it to the attic but still couldn’t get it off of her mind. One day, her curiosity got the best of her and she silently crept to where the box perched in hiding. I just can’t stand it anymore! I have to know what is in that box! What damage could one peek cause? No! Don’t open it! You heard what Zeus said. You must never..... But it was too late. As soon as Pandora lifted the lid, a swarm of evils exploded from the box. Things like grief, disease, envy, spite, old age, and other miseries flew from the box and swirled around them. They knew these things would plague mankind from now on unless they could capture them and place them safely back in the special enclosure. Now look what you’ve done! We have to remedy this and trap these evils and lock them up again! Help me! I’m trying! They’re moving too fast! There’s only one I was able to save in the box-the evil known as despair. And with that, humans from that time on would have to deal with the evils that Pandora let escape. However, since she was able to preserve despair, humans retained the ability to hope and dream for a brighter future. This has allowed humankind to persevere despite the most difficult times. Hope has remained to keep mankind optimistic, even in the most dreary of times.