Pandora's Box By Hesiod

The myth concerning the creation of Pandora and her opening of “Pandora’s box” is one of the etiological stories surrounding the formation of women and their archetypal role in society. Pandora was meant to be a punishment to manhood due to Prometheus’ (Forethought) trickery when he misled Zeus to choose a lesser portion of an ox that was split between him and man, and also when Prometheus stole fire and gave it to mankind without permission. In order to reprimand Prometheus and mankind for their cruel deception, Zeus calls upon his siblings and children to help him create an evil gift, Pandora, also known as “all-gift” (since all the gods created her by contributing a “unique gift”). Zeus presented Pandora to Epimetheus (Afterthought), Prometheus’ brother, and ultimately gave the evil gift of women to all of mortal men as well.

During this archaic time period, women were seen as seductive temptresses who caused misery and stress to men and used them for their wealth that then left men in poverty.

This can be seen in Hesiod’s Theogony when he states, “For from her comes the race of female women: for of her is the deadly race and tribe of women, a great woe for mortals, dwelling with men, no companions of baneful poverty but only of luxury.” Women are seen as foolish creatures that only led to trouble. Hence, Pandora, the first woman given to mankind, gave in to her curiosity and opened the tempting storage jar that held all the miseries and evil in the world. She closed the jar just in time to save hope from escaping, but it was too late to save mankind from the rest of the wicked

contents.
In Greek culture, Pandora is acknowledged as the first woman on Earth. This is a parallel to the story of Eve, who is seen as the first woman on Earth in Hebrew history. Both women were tempted in some way that led to misfortune for the human race. Pandora was tempted to open up the storage jar and Eve tempted Adam to eat the forbidden apple against God’s will. Both Pandora and Eve are similar in that they are seen as predecessors of the women race, and because of their curiosity, are the reason the world is cursed to this day (“Pandora, the first woman on Earth”).
There is no symbolic truth of a woman’s behavior behind this irrational myth of the creation of women. Instead, this is a strong representation for the typical viewpoint an average Greek male would have towards women during this time period. Greeks during this time period saw women to be submissive to men, but they are also seen has enchantresses who had an extreme sense of “sexual curiosity” and an “almost uncontrollable spirit, and an irresistibility to men” (“The Complete Athenian Woman”). Women were perceived as not being able to control their urges and would often tempt and seduce men into marrying them. When they were married men would then have to provide for both themselves and their wives, which would diminish their wealth, forcing them into poverty.
Pandora, being symbolic of the evil and burdens brought upon men, signifies that men only saw women as being a misfortune. Women were not allowed to work, so they were observed to consume the income of their man’s labor. This led to the Greek men to a catch-22 situation. If you try to escape women and don’t marry, you will live a lonely life and will have no one to take care of you in your old age. If you get married, you are forced to work even harder and longer in order to provide for your wife and your family. Women are seen as evil and potential chaos in a man’s life, which continues to feed into the patriarchal society that the archaic Greeks had. Women were forced into submission so they could be controlled in hopes of men to avoid even more misery. Zeus in this sense, made sure that no man could escape the evils of women. They can either decide to escape poverty but die alone and sad, or they could decide to marry and lose their wealth (“Pandora: The Beautiful Evil”).
This is all unfounded thinking. If women would be taken out of this patriarchal society and would rather be seen as equals, they too could work for their families and bring in money creating a lesser burden upon the males of the family. The myth of Pandora is merely an excuse created by Hesiod and other historical Greeks for why men have natural instincts to be “tempted” by women and for the “gruesome burden” they must carry by being the breadwinners of the family because they refuse to see women as their equals.