After the stealing of fire,Zeus became increasingly unkind to men.One day he
ordered his son Hephaestus to build an image of a beautiful maiden out of clay.He then asked the gods and goddesses to award her with different kinds of gifts.A charming young lady,she was the first woman that ever lived.Zeus called her Pandora.Because she had received from each of the gods and goddesses a gift.The gift was harmful to men.
Zeus decided to send her down to men as a present. So Hermes them essenger brought her to Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus. The greatness of her beauty touched the hearts of all who looked upon her, and Epimetheus happily received her into his house. He had quite forgotten Pometheus' warning: never to accept anything from Zeus.
When he was busy with teaching men the art of living, Prometheus had left a bigcask in the care of Epimetheus. He had warned his brother not to open the lid. Pandora was a curious woman. She had been feeling very disappointed that her husband did not allow her to take a look at the contents of the cask. One day, when Epimetheus was out, she lifted the lid and out it came unrest and war, Plague and sickness, theft and violence, grief, sorrow, and all the other evils. The human world was hence to experience these evils. Only hope stayed within the mouth of the jar and never flew out. So men always have hope within their hearts.
偷竊天火之后，宙斯對人類的敵意與日俱增。一天，他令兒子赫菲斯托斯用泥塑一美女像，并請眾神贈予她不同的禮物。世上的第一個女人是位迷人女郎，因為她從每位神靈那里得到了一樣對男人有害的禮物，因此宙斯稱她為潘多拉。
宙斯決定把她作為禮物送給世間的男子。于是信使赫耳墨斯將她帶給普羅米修斯的弟弟厄庇墨透斯。她姿容絕美，見者無不為之傾心。厄庇墨透斯興高采烈地把她迎入屋內(nèi)。普羅米修斯警告過他不得接受宙斯的任何饋贈，而他已將之忘于腦后。這一對夫妻有過一段幸福的生活，但不久災(zāi)難卻降臨人間。
當(dāng)普羅米修斯忙于教授人們生存之道的時候，他把一個桶托付給厄庇墨透斯。他警告過他的弟
弟不要打開桶蓋。潘多拉好奇心強。她的丈夫不允許她看桶中之物，這使她感到十分懊惱。一天乘厄庇墨透斯出門在外，她打開桶蓋，從桶里跑出的是不和與戰(zhàn)爭，瘟疫與疾病，偷竊與暴力，悲哀與憂慮，以及其他一些人類從此要遭受的不幸。只有希望被關(guān)在桶口，永遠(yuǎn)飛不出來，因此人們常常把希望藏于心中。
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