Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths

by Natalie Haynes

As an adjective in Greek, pandora is usually used to describe the earth, the all-giving thing which sustains life.

The greatest virtue, in other words, that an Athenian woman could aspire to was not to be registered, almost not to exist.

For an all-female group of Athenians, the words would be hai Athenaiai. I say ‘would be’ because that phrase is not found anywhere in extant Greek literature:21 no one ever needs to refer to a group of Athenian women, because they aren’t important.

Pandora has been approximated or replaced by Eve. But why has the box she never carried exerted such a fascination on so many artists and writers?

Euripides loved to write clever women, he does it over and over again: it is one of a thousand wonderful things about him.

Penthesilea makes other – ordinary, mortal – women feel strong enough to subvert the vast weight of expectations which circumscribe their behaviour.

It’s enough to make you wonder if the ideal wife is one you scarcely even see, let alone spend any real time with.