Pandora's Box

The story of Pandora's Box explains how all of the bad in the world came to be. It also delves into the consequences of curiosity and distrust. 

The myth tells of Prometheus, the Titan, who tried to help humans in any way he could. When he saw them shivering at night and eating raw meat, he stole fire from the gods to help the humans. He believed that man would use the fire effectively and well, in contrast to the Gods' belief that man would destroy with it. 

Because of his blatant disregard of rule, Zeus decided to punish Prometheus with trickery. He called Aphrodite to pose while Hephaestus made a statue of a woman. He then brought it to life and granted the woman with the gifts of beauty, charm, eloquence, skill, and more. She was given a box and told to never open it. 

 But Pandora always wondered what the box contained. Finally, she opened the box and released hate, anger, sickness, poverty, and every other bad aspect of the world. She slammed the lid down as quickly as she could, but only trapped one final evil: hopelessness. 

Overall, this story provides an explanation as to why our world is filled with so many evils. It also shows us why mankind managed to overcome and push through adversity for thousands of years: hope.

If I had the power, I would squelch the following:

• Ethnocentrism
• The belief that our natural resources are limitless, and therefore, do not need to be preserved or sustained.
• My father's new, highly-effective, blaring alarm clock.