Pandora's box is the story of a feud between the 'king of all gods' Zeus and the Titans Prometheus and Epimetheus. Prometheus disobeys Zeus by giving man the gift of fire, and because of his betrayal Prometheus is chained to a rock for many years. Still, this punishment does not suffice in Zeus' eyes, and so he goes after the brother Epimetheus in a more subtle way. Zeus knows that Epimetheus is lonely without his brother, and so he convinces Hephaestus (who often crafts things for the gods) to make a beautiful woman out of clay to be Epimetheus' wife. Prometheus' brother suspects Zeus of foul play but loves his new wife too much to take significant notice. At the wedding, Zeus presents the newlyweds with a gift: a mystical jar with a 'do not open' label. Curiosity gets the best of Pandora and she opens the jar (some think it is a box- hence Pandora's box), releasing things like hate, envy, and disease into this world. Even though she exposes the world to many bad things, hope comes out of the jar in the form of a bug.
The theme of the story is that humans want what they cannot have. Pandora was specifically instructed to not open the box, and yet she did anyways and caused much harm to the human race. Still, I think the box gives us a key weapon to deal with the many evils the box released: hope. We can use hope in our quest to squelch the many evils of this world (cancer, war, envy).
http://www.bartleby.com/181/021.html
Bulfinch, Thomas. "II. Prometheus and Pandora. Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes. Bulfinch, Thomas. 1913. Age of Fable." II. Prometheus and Pandora. Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes. Bulfinch, Thomas. 1913. Age of Fable. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
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