Pandora

**Pandora** was a major antagonist in the *Divine Comedy*.

She was the first mortal that was created by the gods but mainly to act as the warden for the box that contained all the Evils of the world. When Pandora failed her duty, she was eternally cursed to have the box follow her wherever she goes to where it rendered her insane.

## History

### Background

After the creation of the box used to seal away the Evils, God commissioned anyone to enlist a warden for the box. The gods immediately stepped up seeing it as their chance to have a place among the cosmically social pyramid. They decided to create their very first mortal, specifically the first female mortal. After her creation, she was blessed with many traits from the gods such as the capacity for deep emotion, mastery over language, intuition, and curiosity. When it was all said and done she finally given them name "Pandora".

When she came of age, Pandora was tasked to watch over and guard the box that contained the Evils but she was not explicitly told of the box's contents only that it must never be opened no matter what. To ensure that it stays locked, the gods also gave her the lock code and she would be the only one to know of the passcode. At some point in time, Pandora met and fell in love with the Giant known as Epimetheus who was Prometheus's short-sighted brother. Epimetheus at the time was mourning for his brother after he was imprisoned by the gods, but in Pandora he found another soul for companionship with Pandora herself finding Epimetheus's short-sighted nature strangely very endearing. They would end up getting married afterwards.

### Pandora's Curse

Pandora continued to guard the box while living with Epimetheus but her curiosity at what was inside the box would eat at her mind. She would slowly start to lose her mind as she swore that she heard whispers coming from the box, telling her to open it and that some unseen force would draw her to the box. At her wit's end, she went to Epimetheus for help in getting her mind off the box. Epimetheus suggested that she could just sneak a peek at what is inside just to be done with it. Pandora took to his word and when she opened the lock, slipped the lid off, the Evils of the world burst back out into the world. Desperate and in panic, she quickly closed the lid back up, not knowing that she kept Hope in the box which was the only thing that would counter the Evils.

As punishment, Pandora would be cursed to forever carry the box with her wherever she went and no matter what she did to get rid of it, it would always find its way back to her. Even worse, Pandora was immortal, meaning that she would be afflicted with this curse for as long as she walked this Earth. This curse would start to claw at her sanity, resulting in her deeply resenting and hating the gods for what they put her in, and more-so upon knowing that she cannot reopen the box to release Hope in order to fix her mistake. During this time, her husband Epimetheus also became something of an unwilling slave to his wife, hoping that his continued service would eventually bring her freedom from her curse and give her all the needed mental comfort.

## Trivia

* In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus.
* Pandora hates the Renaissance as she was a muse for the artists who drew her during the worst time of her life.