Pandora - Greece

Pandora - the gift of gods

When Zeus saw that Prometheus created people and taught them how to make fire he got worried. He still remembered very well the fights with giants and did not want this to repeat. Zeus decided to punish people. He asked Hephaistos to make a woman as beautiful as the goddesses from Olympus. When this was done Athena taught her how to sew, Aphrodite gave her beauty and Hermes gave her coaxing character. They called her Pandora - the gift of gods. The gods also gave her a pot made of clay but no one knew what was inside.
 
Now Pandora was ready. She was sent down to the earth and left in front of Prometheus's house. Wise Tytan looked at the beautiful woman and realised that this was a trick. He sent Pandora away and told people to do the same. However, he had a brother called Epimetheus (meaning: 'thinking backwards') who took Pandora in and married her. As soon as Prometheus found out about this, he went to see his brother and told him not to open the pot no matter what. He had a feeling this was a deceit.

His pleas were in vain. Pandora convinced her husband to open the clay pot anyway. As soon as they lifted the lid all the misery escaped out to the world. Unhappiness, poverty, illnesses and problems flew out of the pot and clang on to the people to haunt them forever.

When Prometheus found out what happened he decided to pay back the gods in the same tricky way. But this  is another story...