Pandora©Marc Fishman. A tribute to "Pandora" by John Waterhouse [below]. Picture links to Marc's FB Art Page.
The Return of Pandora
They say you’re to blame for the ills of Man
Miseries, violence and pains
Curiosity drove you to open
The vessel where Hope now remains
Are you retribution for the freed fire
Prometheus claimed for our kind
So humans would thrive and progress beyond
The roles that the gods had defined
Forged by Hephaestus with craft, Earthen-made
Aphrodite brought longing and care
Clothed by Athena in silvery gowns
While Hermes gave shame and despair
Shaped by immortals to tempt and disrupt
Pandora, persuasion and grace!
You shoulder the burdens unfairly dealt
So men and their gods could save face
Once named all-giving, a maid of the Earth
Fertility, sustenance, love
Your nature revised by new bardic verse
When matriarchs were disposed of
Forgiving Pandora, might you return?
To access impalpable Hope
We maligned you with words and revilement
Without your goodwill, we can’t cope
The comfort and warmth of Hestia’s hearth
Your Titan companion bestowed
Reclaim your place in our hearts and our homes
We long for the way you once glowed
***
Theo J. van Joolen©2013
Miseries, violence and pains
Curiosity drove you to open
The vessel where Hope now remains
Are you retribution for the freed fire
Prometheus claimed for our kind
So humans would thrive and progress beyond
The roles that the gods had defined
Forged by Hephaestus with craft, Earthen-made
Aphrodite brought longing and care
Clothed by Athena in silvery gowns
While Hermes gave shame and despair
Shaped by immortals to tempt and disrupt
Pandora, persuasion and grace!
You shoulder the burdens unfairly dealt
So men and their gods could save face
Once named all-giving, a maid of the Earth
Fertility, sustenance, love
Your nature revised by new bardic verse
When matriarchs were disposed of
Forgiving Pandora, might you return?
To access impalpable Hope
We maligned you with words and revilement
Without your goodwill, we can’t cope
The comfort and warmth of Hestia’s hearth
Your Titan companion bestowed
Reclaim your place in our hearts and our homes
We long for the way you once glowed
***
Theo J. van Joolen©2013
c. 1755
Pandora by John Waterhouse
Inspired by reading Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days.
PANDORA: She is the kore, or maiden form, of the Earth Goddess. Sometimes she is called Ge, or Aneidora, (she who sends up gifts), or Pandora (giver of all gifts). From Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths by Charlene Spretnak . In Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days, she is created by Zeus' plan, and given alluring gifts by the immortals, to be the first mortal woman. She is a punishment to Man because Prometheus stole fire from Olympus to benefit human kind. She is portrayed as an irrisistable, curious, deceitful, longing, dangerous woman, who releases all manner of maladies into the world. In other words, she is the mythical product of a patriarchal culture [Theo J. van Joolen]. |
Pandora by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
Pandora's Box by Arthur Rackham
John Gibson 1790-l866 | Pandora - 1860. Marble. Victorian & Albert Museum, London
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