According to Hesiod in the Works and Days, Zeus creates the first woman after
Promtheus stole fire from him in a hollowed fennel stalk to give to man. The first woman
is created by Hephaestus. To create her, he mixed earth with water and the voice and
strength of humankind. Hesiod says the first woman is called Pandora (meaning all gifts)
“because all they who dwelt on Olympus gave each a gift, a plague to men who eat
bread.” The “all gifts” comes from the Gods who each gave a gift. The entire myth is
pretty misogynistic, the story tells of how all the sorrow and evil in the world has a root
cause, which is the woman. According to the myth before the woman, man lived a
peaceful existence. The idea that the root cause of humanities suffering comes from
women is entirely misogynistic. Pandora herself was a vessel containing a curse on man
and she was formed from earth and water much like the “pithos” which is created from
clay ( earth and water) and serves as a container. By Zeus’ will, hope stayed in Pandora’s
box and thus signifies that with the woman there is no hope for man-kind as they need
her to not be alone but with her they would have to withstand her evi...
