Greek to Me: Pandora
Pandora never had a box. Hesiod wrote a storage jar as tall as she was, and the box arrived in 1508.
Pandora never had a box.
Hesiod wrote the story down around 700 BC, and his word was pithos: a storage jar about as tall as she was, and nobody in his poem tells her not to open it. The box arrived in 1508, when Erasmus retold the story in Latin and wrote pyxis, a little box (most likely with Psyche's box in mind), and in his version her husband is the one who opens it. Painters took it from there. On one thing Hesiod and the retellings agree: when the lid went back on, hope stayed inside. It is a big jar. There is room.
Watch it here, then share this page so the title, artwork, and 21x20 Media credit travel with the film.
Greek to Me
Every episode, and a little about the girls, is on the series page.
See all the episodes
The Hesperides were not always Atlas's daughters.52 seconds
Artemis’s Boot Crew57 seconds
The Trojan Horse Isn’t in the Iliad54 seconds
Cerberus Didn't Always Have Three Heads56 seconds
Medusa Was the Victim1 minute, 10 seconds
King Midas Never Turned His Daughter to Gold1 minute, 8 seconds
Seven Years with Calypso1 minute, 10 seconds
The Sirens1 minute, 8 seconds
Atlas1 minute, 11 seconds
Icarus, in His Own Words1 minute, 10 seconds
Icarus1 minute, 9 seconds