Purpose and Meaning of Pandora's Box:
Pandora's box is meant to be a warning to mankind-- don't be curious and don't investigate into the world to test the gods. It is human nature to be curious-- when your mom told you not to do something as a kid, didn't it make you want to go do it to see what happened? It is an innate part of our being to be curious. Curiosity separates us from the animals-- we wonder why something happens or is, and try to change it or figure out what or why something happens to be how it is.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "Curiosity killed the cat"? If you look at this myth, it might have indirectly. When Pandora's curiosity got the better of her and she opened the lid on that box, she released numerous horrid things into the world; destruction, hatred, racism, jealousy, and yes, death. So by Pandora's opening of the box, we have death in the world, and your fluffy cat will eventually push up daisies thanks to her.
Also, maybe keeping curiosity in check was a very helpful tool in ancient times. If you thought to yourself, "Hmm. I wonder what happens if I eat this multicolored, spiky plant?"then you probably would end up dead or very sick. So the myth could have just given people a reason to not do stupid things.
However you look at it, Pandora's box was a warning to mankind about exercising a restraint over your curiosity. After all, who wants to be responsible for causing everyone in the world, indirectly, to die? And who would want Zeus sending things to eat your internal organs? Not me, I'd imagine. If you could prevent horrible things and keep all your body parts in their rightful place by not being curious, why would you do anything else?
Have you ever heard the phrase, "Curiosity killed the cat"? If you look at this myth, it might have indirectly. When Pandora's curiosity got the better of her and she opened the lid on that box, she released numerous horrid things into the world; destruction, hatred, racism, jealousy, and yes, death. So by Pandora's opening of the box, we have death in the world, and your fluffy cat will eventually push up daisies thanks to her.
Also, maybe keeping curiosity in check was a very helpful tool in ancient times. If you thought to yourself, "Hmm. I wonder what happens if I eat this multicolored, spiky plant?"then you probably would end up dead or very sick. So the myth could have just given people a reason to not do stupid things.
However you look at it, Pandora's box was a warning to mankind about exercising a restraint over your curiosity. After all, who wants to be responsible for causing everyone in the world, indirectly, to die? And who would want Zeus sending things to eat your internal organs? Not me, I'd imagine. If you could prevent horrible things and keep all your body parts in their rightful place by not being curious, why would you do anything else?
Pandora's box also explains why human beings maintain and have hope even with all the terrible things in life. If Pandora had shut the box before hope came out, what would've happened? The Greeks maybe thought that without all the horrible things, there couldn't have been hope. Imagine everyone walking around, depressed and beaten, not bothering to do anything because they can't hope that it'll turn out well. So looking back, maybe it was a good thing Pandora opened that box.