Pandora
Greek · mortal · primordial · Recorded classification
The first woman in the Hesiodic creation-account, crafted by Hephaestus from clay and gifted by every Olympian with a divine endowment. Sent to Epimetheus as bride; opened the pithos containing the evils that had previously been kept apart from humanity; only Hope remained when she replaced the lid. Mother of Pyrrha by Epimetheus — the genealogical bridge from primordial-creation-figure to the post-flood human line via Pyrrha's marriage to Deucalion. The "Pandora's box" mistranslation traces to Erasmus's Latin rendering of pithos as pyxis in the 16th century; the original Hesiodic vessel is a large storage-jar, not a small box.
Children
Children in alternative accounts
- Pyrrha: Apollodorus: Aetolian ancestryApollodorus, Library 1.7.2 (primary)
Powers
- Opened the jar that loosed evils upon mankind
Relations
- spouse: Epimetheus (Titan, son of Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene; not registered under strict rule that disallows Titan-class parents) · GreekHes. WD 80-89; Apollod. 1.7.2 (primary)
- mother of: Pyrrha (wife of Deucalion the flood-survivor, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora; not registered as Epimetheus-line cascade) · GreekApollod. 1.7.2 (primary)
- child (Apollodoran account): PyrrhaApollodorus, Library 1.7.2 (primary)