Pandora and Eve are the First Women

In the story of Adam and Eve, the book of Genesis in the Bible states that Eve was the first woman and was created by God to be a partner for Adam. Eve was formed from Adam’s rib. Both Eve and Adam were created in God's image and God put Eve and Adam in a haven called the Garden of Eden. In this vast garden was the tree of the knowledge; a tree filled with all things good and evil. God tells them to eat from anywhere but the tree of knowledge. However, Eve was soon tempted by Satan, disguised as a snake, to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge. When she ate the fruit, Adam followed suit and their eyes were now “opened” (they noticed they were naked) and sin could now be seen and was brought into the world. God, now aware that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, banished them from the Garden.

In Pandora’s case, she was said to be the first woman. She was created by Hephaestus by mixing earth, water, a human voice and strength and was then shaped like the goddesses. Pandora was created by the gods and goddesses by order of Zeus, to be given as a gift to Prometheus' brother, Epimetheus. Pandora was created as punishment to mankind and Prometheus for disobeying Zeus and for the theft of the secret of fire. Pandora's main purpose in life was to open a jar and unleash all the evils and misfortunes onto the world and once she did that, the only thing remaining inside the box was hope.

There are many similarities between Pandora and Eve. One similarity is that in both accounts they were said to be the first women and both were created with a purpose. Although Pandora and Eve’s purposes differed, they were both in some way a gift or companion for man. In Pandora, she was created as a gift; a wife for Epimetheus, and a trap f...

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...ot only as the source of all evil but also the source of all life. Pandora, like Eve, can also be viewed in a similar way. Pandora in Greek literally means ‘all gifts’. She is often depicted as having only half a body with her legs cut off at the bottom, as if she is coming from the ground. The same can be said about Coatlicue in one of the Aztec creation myths, where the top half of her body went into the sky and the other half went into the seas, forming the earth to escape in fear of being wrongfully punished by her children. These depictions are common of earth goddesses, and since Pandora was the first woman and a gift to her husband and mankind, she is seen more as a Mother Nature type figure rather than evil.

It is due to these common interpretations and patriarchal stereotypes that women are mostly blamed and held accountable for all the evils in the world.