Pandora: the story on HearLore

Etymology And Name Interpretations

A white-ground kylix painted by the Tarquinia painter around 470, 460 BC bears the name Anesidora above a female figure. This inscription means she who sends up gifts. Scholars debate whether Pandora meant all-gifted or all-giving. William E. Phipps noted that classics scholars suggest Hesiod reversed the meaning of an earth goddess called Pandora. Jane Ellen Harrison observed that a fifth-century amphora shows Pandora rising from the ground as a chthonic goddess like Gaia herself. A winged ker with a fillet hovers overhead while her arms are raised in epiphany gesture. Harrison argued this represents a shift from matriarchy to patriarchy in Greek culture. The life-bringing goddess Pandora was eclipsed by the death-bringing human woman. Robert Graves quoted Harrison and asserted that the Hesiodic episode is not a genuine myth but an anti-feminist fable. H. J. Rose wrote that the myth makes Pandora the origin of all Man's woes with her being the exemplification of the bad wife.

Who wrote the poem Theogony that describes Pandora in the 8th century BCE?

Hesiod wrote lines 560 through 612 of his poem Theogony to describe a woman created by Hephaestus on Zeus's orders. This figure was a beautiful evil whose descendants would torment humanity.

What does the name Anesidora mean on the white-ground kylix painted by the Tarquinia painter around 470, 460 BC?

The inscription Anesidora above the female figure means she who sends up gifts. Scholars debate whether Pandora meant all-gifted or all-giving based on this artifact.

When did Erasmus of Rotterdam translate pithos into the Latin word pyxis meaning box during the 16th century?

Erasmus of Rotterdam translated pithos into the Latin word pyxis meaning box during the 16th century. This mistranslation has endured ever since despite the original object being a massive container.

On what date was Aumale de Corsenville's one-act verse melodrama Pandore performed on the eve of French Revolution?

Aumale de Corsenville created one-act verse melodrama Pandore which was performed on the 2nd of July 1789 on the eve of French Revolution. The play appeared shortly after the publication of earlier works like those from 1541 and 1542.

Which painting shows Eva Prima Pandora with a naked woman reclining in a grotto holding an apple branch?

Jean Cousin the Elder painted Eva Prima Pandora in 1550 showing a naked woman reclining in a grotto. Her right elbow rests on a skull indicating death while she holds an apple branch.

Pandora.

Etymology And Name Interpretations

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Common questions

Who wrote the poem Theogony that describes Pandora in the 8th century BCE?

What does the name Anesidora mean on the white-ground kylix painted by the Tarquinia painter around 470, 460 BC?

When did Erasmus of Rotterdam translate pithos into the Latin word pyxis meaning box during the 16th century?

On what date was Aumale de Corsenville's one-act verse melodrama Pandore performed on the eve of French Revolution?

Which painting shows Eva Prima Pandora with a naked woman reclining in a grotto holding an apple branch?

The Jar Versus Box Translation

Artistic Representations Through Centuries

Comparisons With Biblical Eve

Dramatic Adaptations In Literature