WITH WOMAN, CAME TROUBLE. WITH TROUBLE, CAME HOPE.

Zeus, the king of Gods was angry with the Titans. He wanted revenge.

This was the time when only man lived on Earth and goodness, love and compassion were the only feelings man had for his fellow men. The Titans were giants, always waging war against the gods. Mt. Olympus constantly bled with war. But the titans always lost. Was it just the fact that they were fighting against the Gods or that Zeus was too clever to be defeated by his own creations, no one knew. But this time, the Titans didn’t want to leave empty-handed. They fought until they reached the peak of Mt. Olympus, home of the Gods. They stole fire and gave it to the humans.

Zeus wanted to punish man for stealing fire from the Gods, the fire that was the only other difference between man and god other than magic and immortality. So Zeus created a beautiful creature from the very sands he used to create the most powerful and courageous men. It resembled the human form but he made it ever so delicate and beautiful. It was a creature full of love, compassion and humanity. Thus, the first woman was born. He named her Pandora. He gave her a box and its key and told her that she must marry a man and give him the box after their marriage. He told her that by no means must she open it herself. Pandora was sent to live on the earth.

On Earth, she met a handsome young man named Prometheus. She fell in love with the youth and eventually they were married. She gave him the box and the key as Zeus had instructed her. Prometheus loved Pandora and they lived happily in a world of their own. They worked on their land and lived on its produce. The box was forgotten. As time passed, Prometheus took to gambling and spent most of his time outside. Poor Pandora was left to entertain herself at home. She was tired of gardening and housework and longed for a change. She suddenly remembered the box and was curious to see what it contained. She ran into the house and searched for the box. Eventually she found it in the corner of a room. As she approached the box, she thought she heard voices calling out to her. She pressed her ear against the box’s lid. She was surprised by what she heard.

“Pandora let us out!” the voices cried. She remembered Zeus’ warning but in spite of it, she unlocked the box. A swarm of insects emerged from the box and bit her all over her hands and face. Pandora was not in pain but something else was happening to her. She suddenly felt angry and jealous of Prometheus. She felt sad, and thoughts of malice, hatred, sin, treachery and so on filled her mind. Pandora had released all the troubles of the world which Zeus had locked up in the box. The once happy world where people lived without any problems, this cheerful, sunny world now went dark as the cloud of insects engulfed the skies. It was as if all cheer, happiness and calm were sucked out of the world. The world became miserable.

Pandora quickly shut the box but it was too late. The troubles had spread all over the world. Pandora felt despair for the first time and was angry with herself for setting the troubles free. She then heard a faint voice from the box calling, “Let me out Pandora, let me out!”

“No. I won’t, “Pandora replied, “I don’t want to bring any more trouble.”

“I can help you Pandora, let me out,” the voice said.

Pandora felt better after listening to the voice and so she opened the box again. A fairy flew out of the box; white, calming light radiating from her delicate body. As soon as Pandora saw her, a hint of confidence rose in her.

“I am Hope,” the fairy said. “Zeus put me in the box along with the insects to help mankind.”

“You have done a terrible thing Pandora,” continued the fairy, “you have set free the troubles of the world. “

“The world as you know it now will change. Anger, hatred, fear, malice, sin, droughts, famine and calamities will rein the earth. I was sent to bring hope to the innocent people.” She said and flew away.

From then Hope has always helped man. She stood by him in testing times and with her help Man achieved what he thought was impossible. She still wanders the earth to help those who are in misery, to give them courage to face life. 

Himadyuti

II BA (PJoE)