{"id":88,"date":"2021-06-10T15:19:24","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T19:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/myths\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=88"},"modified":"2022-09-01T14:42:21","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T18:42:21","slug":"lesson-5-primary-readings-prometheus-and-pandora","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/chapter\/lesson-5-primary-readings-prometheus-and-pandora\/","title":{"raw":"L5-Prometheus &amp; Pandora (Hesiod's Theogony and Works &amp; Days)","rendered":"L5-Prometheus &amp; Pandora (Hesiod&#8217;s Theogony and Works &amp; Days)"},"content":{"raw":"<h1>Lesson 5 Primary Readings: Prometheus and Pandora<\/h1>\r\n<strong>Notes:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Hesiod recounts the myth of Prometheus\u2019 theft of fire and the creation o1f the first woman, Pandora, twice: first in the Theogony and then again in the Works and Days. The two versions each contain unique information and have different emphases. It is important to read each version carefully to compare them and to build a fuller version of the myth by taking both accounts into consideration.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The Theogony version emphasizes the events that happen at Mekone concerning the shared meal and the origins of the sacrificial ritual.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The Works and Days version has a fuller description of the creation of Pandora by all the gods, with an explanation of her name related to this. She is call \u201cPan-dora\u201d (All-Gifts) because all the gods gave her gifts, according to Hesiod. This version also includes Pandora\u2019s famous jar in which Hope is contained.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h1>Hesiod, <em>Theogony<\/em> (lines 507-616)<\/h1>\r\n(translated by S. Ahmed and A. Rappold)\r\n\r\nIapetos brought home the daughter of Ocean \u2014 enticing, beautiful-ankled Clymene\r\nand carried her straight into their shared bed. She bore him these children:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Atlas, strong-hearted\r\nMenoitios, obsessed with fame<span class=\"line-number\">510<\/span>\r\nPrometheus, with pre-planning, clever\r\nin hindsight, ignorant: Epimetheus.<\/p>\r\nEpimetheus:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">first brought suffering to working men\r\nwhen he accepted the gift: Zeus\u2019s woman moulded<span class=\"line-number\">515<\/span>\r\nin the form of a young virgin.<\/p>\r\narrogant Menoitios:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">blasted into Darkness by far-seeing Zeus,\r\n\u2014 with a flash of lightning and the lingering smell of sulphur \u2014\r\ndestroyed by his reckless, out-of-control aggression.<span class=\"line-number\">520<\/span><\/p>\r\nAtlas:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">stands before the clear-voiced Hesperides, at the ends of the earth.\r\nhe labours under the heaviest of obligations: the wide heavens\r\npress down on his head and hands, without rest\r\nsuch was the duty allotted to him by cunningly intelligent Zeus.<span class=\"line-number\">525<\/span><\/p>\r\nSubtle-planning Prometheus:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">shackled by Zeus with punishments unbreakable\r\nand excruciating: Zeus drove a spike right through his chest\r\nand sent a long-winged eagle to torture him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Again and again the eagle gorged on his immortal liver:<span class=\"line-number\">530<\/span>\r\nevery day, the long-winged bird feasted, but\r\neach night, the liver grew back, exactly as before.<\/div>\r\nThat bird was killed by the son of enticing, beautiful-ankled Alkmene:\r\nHerakles. He cured this plague, this living death,\r\nand freed the son of Iapetos from his maddening pain.<span class=\"line-number\">535<\/span>\r\nThis was not opposed by the will of the one who rules on high: Olympian Zeus.\r\nAfter all, Zeus had always planned that the glory of Theban-born Heracles\r\nwould spread far and wide across the earth.\r\nSo Zeus multiplied the honour of his legendary son\r\nby setting aside his old anger, though bile still filled his heart because,<span class=\"line-number\">540<\/span>\r\nthough he was Kronos\u2019 heir, and held clear superiority,\r\n<div>Prometheus had, so many times, tried to outwit him.<\/div>\r\n<div>As had happened, once upon a time:<\/div>\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">The gods and mortals could not decide on a fair division of sacrificial honours<\/div>\r\n<div>at Mekone.<\/div>\r\n<span class=\"line-number\">545<\/span>Prometheus eagerly cut a large bull into two portions\r\nand offered this as a compromise, seeking to outwit Zeus.\r\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\">To Zeus he offered one portion: the best meat and the entrails rich with fat\r\nbut all hidden inside a sack of skin and stomach.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\">To men he offered another: the white bones of the bull but cleverly arranged <span class=\"line-number\">550<\/span>\r\nand all hidden under a covering of delicious, shining-white fat.<\/p>\r\nThe father of gods and men said to him:\r\n\u201cWell, son of Iapetus, you never miss a chance to show off your status to the other kings,\r\nbut you might be a bit ripe in the head \u2014 this solution is needlessly partisan.\u201d\r\nAs he spoke, there was a sneer on the face of Zeus, who knows immovable plans.<span class=\"line-number\">555<\/span>\r\n\r\nCrooked-minded Prometheus responded,\r\nthough he couldn\u2019t help smiling softly, keeping in mind his greater deception:\r\n\u201cZeus, most glorious, most magnificent among the gods who are forever:\r\nchoose whichever portion best suits you.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe spoke, planning deception. . Zeus who knows imperishable plans<span class=\"line-number\">560<\/span>\r\nknew already \u2014 how could he have failed to recognize the deception?\r\nHis mind had already foreseen how suffering would first\r\ncome to mortal men and how this choice would bring it about.\r\nSo, with both hands, he chose the second portion, wrapped in white fat.\r\n\r\nAnger chased out every other thought and bile choked his heart,<span class=\"line-number\">565<\/span>\r\nwhen, out in the open, he saw the white bones of the bull and their clever arrangement.\r\nBy that decision, even now, men and women across the earth honour the immortals,\r\nby offering them the smoke of white bones from blazing altars.\r\n\r\nCloud-gathering Zeus spoke, his expression strained:\r\n\u201cSon of Iaptetus, you never miss a chance to show off your intellect.<span class=\"line-number\">570<\/span>\r\nBut you\u2019re a bit ripe in the head; you just can\u2019t stop playing tricks.\u201d\r\n\r\nHis anger simmered as he said this, Zeus who knows imperishable plans.\r\nFrom that point onwards, his mind was occupied, plotting a response to the deception\r\n\r\nFirst, he withheld the power of weariless fire from the people of the ash-spear:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">mortal men,<span class=\"line-number\">575<\/span><\/div>\r\n<div>who inhabit the earth\r\nbut the helpful son of Iapetos outwitted him\r\nby stealing back weariless fire. Though its blaze was clear from far away,\r\nhe hid it in a hollow fennel stalk. This provocation gnawed at the deepest core\r\nof high-thundering Zeus. And his heart again filled with bile\r\nwhen, out in the open, he saw the clear blaze of fire \u2014 now in the hands of men.<span class=\"line-number\">580<\/span><\/div>\r\nAs a trade for the fire, Zeus devised wicked suffering for mankind.\r\nThe renowned, broken-footed smith moulded Earth into\r\nthe shape of a virginal girl, cheeks blushing modestly, according to the plans of Kronos\u2019 son.\r\nThe owl-eyed goddess Athena was in charge of her clothing and adornment:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">for her body, a dress of silver-white, nearly transparent<span class=\"line-number\">585<\/span>\r\nover the face: a veil woven by Athena\u2019s own hands \u2014 its appearance, miraculous.\r\nthroughout her hair: a crown of wild-flowers, newly blossomed,\r\nprovoking desire-. All was arranged by Pallas Athena.<\/div>\r\n<div>Onto her head: a golden diadem made by the renowned, broken-footed-god.\r\nHe shaped and perfected it with his own hands, to please his father Zeus:<span class=\"line-number\">590<\/span>\r\nAcross it, he overlaid intricate scenes \u2014 their appearance, miraculous\u2014<\/div>\r\nof monsters of earth and sea, many and massive,\r\nbut all contained within the diadem. He depicted them with such allure,\r\nso miraculous, that you\u2019d swear the animals were alive.\r\n\r\nThe woman was Zeus\u2019 trick: a beautiful evil in return for something good.<span class=\"line-number\">595<\/span>\r\n\r\nNext, he revealed her to the gathered assembly of gods and men.\r\nHer appearance was a testament to the skill of the owl-eyed daughter of a mighty father.\r\nAll the immortal gods and mortal men gazed upon he r\u2014 her appearance, miraculous \u2014\r\nas they beheld this inescapable trap, irresistible to men.\r\n\r\nThe species of female women originated with her and<span class=\"line-number\">600<\/span>\r\nshe was the start of that whole destructive race,\r\nthis terrible plague for mankind. They squat within the homes of mortal men,\r\nunbearable in Poverty, barely tolerable in Plenty:\r\nJust like:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>bees, within their domed hives,<span class=\"line-number\">605<\/span>\r\nwork to feed the drones \u2014 where they go, hard work follows.\r\nEvery moment of the day, from dawn to dusk\r\nthe bees exhaust themselves, laying out white honeycomb\r\nwhile the drones lounge inside the domed hives,\r\nthe work of one goes straight into the belly of the other.<\/em><span class=\"line-number\">610<\/span><\/div>\r\nIt\u2019s just the same for mortal men: women are the bearers of suffering,\r\ncreated by high-thundering Zeus.\r\nWherever women go, hard work follows.\r\nZeus gave one more evil in return for the good:\r\n\r\n<em>[Option 1:]<\/em>\r\nLet\u2019s say someone manages to avoid marriage, women, and all those anxieties \u2014<span class=\"line-number\">615<\/span>\r\ndisaster then comes in old age: since he chose not to marry,\r\nwho takes care of him at life\u2019s end? And even if his needs are met\r\nin life \u2014 well then, after death\r\nthere are no children to carry on his legacy. His hard work profits\r\nonly distant relatives.<span class=\"line-number\">620<\/span>\r\n\r\n<em>[Option 2:]<\/em>\r\nLet\u2019s say someone chooses the fate of marriage:\r\nEither he manages to find a wife he can trust, their hearts perfectly matched\r\nbut still lives in fear that this comfort will one day give way to suffering.\r\nOr he marries an abusive type, a troublemaker \u2014\r\nthat is a source of chest-clutching anxiety for the rest of his life.<span class=\"line-number\">625<\/span>\r\nHeadache and heartache too. Trust me, this suffering is incurable.\r\n\r\nThe moral: you can\u2019t deceive or outwit the mind of Zeus.\r\nNot even the son of Iapetos, Prometheus, the helpful-trickster\r\ncould get out from under his anger. Instead, he was crushed by a heavy sentence\r\nand despite his slippery mind, was shackled in chains.<span class=\"line-number\">630<\/span>\r\n<h1>Hesiod, Works and Days (lines 1-106)<\/h1>\r\n(translated by S. Ahmed, R. Nickel, and A. Rappold)\r\n\r\nMuses from Pieria, you who bestow fame through song\r\ncome and tell of Zeus, celebrating your father in song.\r\nThrough him, mortal men are famous and not famous,\r\nspoken of and not spoken of, by the will of great Zeus.\r\nWith ease he makes a man strong; with ease he crushes the mighty.<span class=\"line-number\">5<\/span>\r\nWith ease he degrades a distinguished man and exalts the obscure.\r\nWith ease he straightens one who is bent over and shrivels the arrogant.\r\nHigh-thundering Zeus, who dwells in lofty palaces.\r\nHear, see, and listen; with justice keep our laws straight,\r\nyou for your part; I for mine would tell Perses the way things are.<span class=\"line-number\">10<\/span>\r\n\r\nThere\u2019ss not only one kind of Strife. On Earth\r\nthere are two. The one, when you see her, you would praise;\r\nthe other deserves blame. They possess diverse natures.\r\nThe one promotes war \u2014 that evil \u2014 and division,\r\nthe cruel one. No mortals love her, but by Necessity,<span class=\"line-number\">15<\/span>\r\nthrough the plans of the immortals, they honour this Strife, this burden.\r\nThe other one, dark Night bore her first.\r\nThe high-throned son of Kronos who dwells in the Sky,\r\nset her down in the roots of Earth, and for men she is far better.\r\nEven a deadbeat, even him, she\u2019s able to rouse to work.<span class=\"line-number\">20<\/span>\r\nA person in need of work sees another man,\r\na rich man eager to plow and to sow\r\nand build a good house. One neighbour competes with another\r\nas he rushes toward riches. This Strife is good for mortals.\r\nPotter vies with potter, carpenter with carpenter.<span class=\"line-number\">25<\/span>\r\nBeggar is jealous of beggar, poet of poet.\r\n\r\nPerses, set these words in your heart.\r\nDon\u2019t allow Strife, who rejoices in evil, keep you from work,\r\nas you watch for quarrels and eavesdrop in the marketplace.\r\nThe season for marketplace quarrels is short<span class=\"line-number\">30<\/span>\r\nfor the man who hasn\u2019t yet stored up this year\u2019s crop,\r\nharvested in season, the crop that Gaia brings, the grain of Demeter.\r\nOnce you have enough of this, you can promote quarrels and division\r\nover others\u2019 possessions. You\u2019ll get no second chance\r\nto do this work.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 160px\">So come, let\u2019s settle our dispute<span class=\"line-number\">35<\/span><\/div>\r\n<div>with straight judgments, which come from Zeus and are best.\r\nWe\u2019d already divided the farm. But you kept on taking\r\nand carried off almost everything, always flattering the kings,\r\nbribe-eaters; they specialize in making these kinds of judgments.<\/div>\r\nThey\u2019re fools: when asked to divide in half, they give the whole thing,<span class=\"line-number\">40<\/span>\r\nand soft \u2014 unfamiliar with the value of a hard day\u2019s work.\r\nFor most men, the gods hide the way to make a living \u2014\r\nthe easy way, at least. Otherwise, you\u2019d work only a single day,\r\nharvest food for the year and spend the rest relaxing.\r\nSoon you\u2019d hang up your plow-handles to dry,<span class=\"line-number\">45<\/span>\r\nfinished with the work of oxen and much-enduring mules.\r\n\r\nAny hope for this carefree life was concealed by an angry Zeus \u2014\r\nhis heart, filled with bile at crooked-minded Prometheus\u2019 deception \u2014\r\nhis mind, focused on a scheme: how to bring painful suffering to mankind.\r\n\r\nFirst, Zeus hid fire. But the helpful son of Iapetos,<span class=\"line-number\">50<\/span>\r\nstealing from wise-minded Zeus, gave it back to mankind\r\nby hiding it in a fennel stalk, deceiving Zeus who delights in thunder.\r\n\r\nIn anger, cloud-gathering Zeus addressed him:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cSon of Iapetus, you never miss a chance to show off your intellect.\r\nYou\u2019re pleased with yourself, because you stole fire and outwitted me.<span class=\"line-number\">55<\/span>\r\nThis will prove disastrous for you. For mankind too.\r\nIn exchange for fire, I\u2019ll devise a truly wicked trade: a gift all\r\nwill choose to accept with open arms, willingly embracing their own suffering.\u201d<\/div>\r\n<div>As he said this, he couldn\u2019t stop laughing: the father of men and of gods.<\/div>\r\nNext, Zeus issued these commands: <span class=\"line-number\">60<\/span>\r\n\r\nto Hephaistos, famous for his creations:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cmake a mixture of earth and water and pour into it a human voice\r\nand the same spirit as well. Mould its face to resemble a goddess\r\nand shape its body like that of a young virgin, innocently exciting desire.\u201d<\/div>\r\nto Athena:<span class=\"line-number\">65<\/span>\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cteach her to craft and weave careful art upon the loom\u201d<\/div>\r\nto gold-adorned Aphrodite:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201canoint her with allure, body-devouring longing and painful need.\u201d<\/div>\r\nto Hermes, Watchdog Slayer and Guide, he commanded:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cinstall a bitch\u2019s mind and a criminal\u2019s heart.\u201d <span class=\"line-number\">70<\/span><\/div>\r\nThey all obeyed the commands of Kronos\u2019 son, king Zeus.\r\nThe renowned, broken-footed god swiftly moulded from Earth\r\nthe shape of a virginal girl, cheeks blushing modestly, according to the plans of Kronos\u2019 son.\r\ndivine, owl-eyed Athena was in charge of clothing and adornment:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">the divine Graces and queenly Persuasion set onto<span class=\"line-number\">75<\/span>\r\nthe inviting skin of her neck golden bands. For her hair,\r\na crown of spring blossoms from the beautifully-coiffed Seasons.<\/div>\r\nAll was arranged invitingly across her naked skin by Pallas Athena.\r\nBut in her breast, Hermes the Guide, Watchdog Slayer, installed\r\na tricky, lying tongue and a criminal\u2019s heart.<span class=\"line-number\">80<\/span>\r\nAll was done according to the plans of loud-thundering Zeus.\r\n\r\nLast of all, the gods\u2019 messenger placed a voice in her and announced her name:\r\nPandora: because because all the Olympian gods gave her gifts,\r\nthough she would be a plague for labouring men.\r\n\r\nFinally, when he\u2019d completed his inescapable trap, irresistible to men,<span class=\"line-number\">85<\/span>\r\nfather Zeus sent out Hermes, the Watchdog Slayer, to Epimetheus.\r\nThe swift messenger of the gods brought the gift. But Epimetheus\r\nonly considered in hindsight Prometheus\u2019 forewarning:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cNever accept gifts from Olympian Zeus. Send everything back,\r\nDon\u2019t bring it into your house, or I fear mortals will suffer for it.\u201d<span class=\"line-number\">90<\/span><\/div>\r\nOnly after Epimetheus accepted the gift, after he held suffering in his arms, did he understand.\r\n\r\nBefore:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">all men, across the earth, used to prosper\r\nfree from suffering, hard work\r\nand painful disease: for men, these are death-bringers\r\nbecause those who weather these evils become old before their time.<span class=\"line-number\">95<\/span><\/div>\r\nThen:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">The woman removed the heavy lid of the jar with her own hands, and\r\ndriven by her own thoughts, unleashed sorrows for men, death-bringers.\r\nHope alone remained in its unbreakable home,\r\ncaught underneath the lip of the jar. Its escape\r\nwas only a short flight away, but, just in time, she slammed the lid down. <span class=\"line-number\">100<\/span>\r\nAll according to the plan of aegis-bearing, cloud-gathering Zeus.<\/div>\r\nNow:\r\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Ten thousand or more sorrows roam free among all mankind.\r\nSuffering is inescapable on land and sea.\r\nWorse, diseases stalk human beings day and night,\r\nspreading everywhere, out of control; for men, they bring wails of grief, <span class=\"line-number\">105 <\/span>\r\nsilently since their divine voice was removed by cunningly wise Zeus.<\/div>\r\n<div><\/div>\r\n<div>The moral: in the end, there is no way to evade the mind of Zeus.<\/div>","rendered":"<h1>Lesson 5 Primary Readings: Prometheus and Pandora<\/h1>\n<p><strong>Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hesiod recounts the myth of Prometheus\u2019 theft of fire and the creation o1f the first woman, Pandora, twice: first in the Theogony and then again in the Works and Days. The two versions each contain unique information and have different emphases. It is important to read each version carefully to compare them and to build a fuller version of the myth by taking both accounts into consideration.<\/li>\n<li>The Theogony version emphasizes the events that happen at Mekone concerning the shared meal and the origins of the sacrificial ritual.<\/li>\n<li>The Works and Days version has a fuller description of the creation of Pandora by all the gods, with an explanation of her name related to this. She is call \u201cPan-dora\u201d (All-Gifts) because all the gods gave her gifts, according to Hesiod. This version also includes Pandora\u2019s famous jar in which Hope is contained.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Hesiod, <em>Theogony<\/em> (lines 507-616)<\/h1>\n<p>(translated by S. Ahmed and A. Rappold)<\/p>\n<p>Iapetos brought home the daughter of Ocean \u2014 enticing, beautiful-ankled Clymene<br \/>\nand carried her straight into their shared bed. She bore him these children:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Atlas, strong-hearted<br \/>\nMenoitios, obsessed with fame<span class=\"line-number\">510<\/span><br \/>\nPrometheus, with pre-planning, clever<br \/>\nin hindsight, ignorant: Epimetheus.<\/p>\n<p>Epimetheus:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">first brought suffering to working men<br \/>\nwhen he accepted the gift: Zeus\u2019s woman moulded<span class=\"line-number\">515<\/span><br \/>\nin the form of a young virgin.<\/p>\n<p>arrogant Menoitios:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">blasted into Darkness by far-seeing Zeus,<br \/>\n\u2014 with a flash of lightning and the lingering smell of sulphur \u2014<br \/>\ndestroyed by his reckless, out-of-control aggression.<span class=\"line-number\">520<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Atlas:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">stands before the clear-voiced Hesperides, at the ends of the earth.<br \/>\nhe labours under the heaviest of obligations: the wide heavens<br \/>\npress down on his head and hands, without rest<br \/>\nsuch was the duty allotted to him by cunningly intelligent Zeus.<span class=\"line-number\">525<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Subtle-planning Prometheus:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\">shackled by Zeus with punishments unbreakable<br \/>\nand excruciating: Zeus drove a spike right through his chest<br \/>\nand sent a long-winged eagle to torture him.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 80px\">Again and again the eagle gorged on his immortal liver:<span class=\"line-number\">530<\/span><br \/>\nevery day, the long-winged bird feasted, but<br \/>\neach night, the liver grew back, exactly as before.<\/div>\n<p>That bird was killed by the son of enticing, beautiful-ankled Alkmene:<br \/>\nHerakles. He cured this plague, this living death,<br \/>\nand freed the son of Iapetos from his maddening pain.<span class=\"line-number\">535<\/span><br \/>\nThis was not opposed by the will of the one who rules on high: Olympian Zeus.<br \/>\nAfter all, Zeus had always planned that the glory of Theban-born Heracles<br \/>\nwould spread far and wide across the earth.<br \/>\nSo Zeus multiplied the honour of his legendary son<br \/>\nby setting aside his old anger, though bile still filled his heart because,<span class=\"line-number\">540<\/span><br \/>\nthough he was Kronos\u2019 heir, and held clear superiority,<\/p>\n<div>Prometheus had, so many times, tried to outwit him.<\/div>\n<div>As had happened, once upon a time:<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">The gods and mortals could not decide on a fair division of sacrificial honours<\/div>\n<div>at Mekone.<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"line-number\">545<\/span>Prometheus eagerly cut a large bull into two portions<br \/>\nand offered this as a compromise, seeking to outwit Zeus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\">To Zeus he offered one portion: the best meat and the entrails rich with fat<br \/>\nbut all hidden inside a sack of skin and stomach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\">To men he offered another: the white bones of the bull but cleverly arranged <span class=\"line-number\">550<\/span><br \/>\nand all hidden under a covering of delicious, shining-white fat.<\/p>\n<p>The father of gods and men said to him:<br \/>\n\u201cWell, son of Iapetus, you never miss a chance to show off your status to the other kings,<br \/>\nbut you might be a bit ripe in the head \u2014 this solution is needlessly partisan.\u201d<br \/>\nAs he spoke, there was a sneer on the face of Zeus, who knows immovable plans.<span class=\"line-number\">555<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Crooked-minded Prometheus responded,<br \/>\nthough he couldn\u2019t help smiling softly, keeping in mind his greater deception:<br \/>\n\u201cZeus, most glorious, most magnificent among the gods who are forever:<br \/>\nchoose whichever portion best suits you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He spoke, planning deception. . Zeus who knows imperishable plans<span class=\"line-number\">560<\/span><br \/>\nknew already \u2014 how could he have failed to recognize the deception?<br \/>\nHis mind had already foreseen how suffering would first<br \/>\ncome to mortal men and how this choice would bring it about.<br \/>\nSo, with both hands, he chose the second portion, wrapped in white fat.<\/p>\n<p>Anger chased out every other thought and bile choked his heart,<span class=\"line-number\">565<\/span><br \/>\nwhen, out in the open, he saw the white bones of the bull and their clever arrangement.<br \/>\nBy that decision, even now, men and women across the earth honour the immortals,<br \/>\nby offering them the smoke of white bones from blazing altars.<\/p>\n<p>Cloud-gathering Zeus spoke, his expression strained:<br \/>\n\u201cSon of Iaptetus, you never miss a chance to show off your intellect.<span class=\"line-number\">570<\/span><br \/>\nBut you\u2019re a bit ripe in the head; you just can\u2019t stop playing tricks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His anger simmered as he said this, Zeus who knows imperishable plans.<br \/>\nFrom that point onwards, his mind was occupied, plotting a response to the deception<\/p>\n<p>First, he withheld the power of weariless fire from the people of the ash-spear:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">mortal men,<span class=\"line-number\">575<\/span><\/div>\n<div>who inhabit the earth<br \/>\nbut the helpful son of Iapetos outwitted him<br \/>\nby stealing back weariless fire. Though its blaze was clear from far away,<br \/>\nhe hid it in a hollow fennel stalk. This provocation gnawed at the deepest core<br \/>\nof high-thundering Zeus. And his heart again filled with bile<br \/>\nwhen, out in the open, he saw the clear blaze of fire \u2014 now in the hands of men.<span class=\"line-number\">580<\/span><\/div>\n<p>As a trade for the fire, Zeus devised wicked suffering for mankind.<br \/>\nThe renowned, broken-footed smith moulded Earth into<br \/>\nthe shape of a virginal girl, cheeks blushing modestly, according to the plans of Kronos\u2019 son.<br \/>\nThe owl-eyed goddess Athena was in charge of her clothing and adornment:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">for her body, a dress of silver-white, nearly transparent<span class=\"line-number\">585<\/span><br \/>\nover the face: a veil woven by Athena\u2019s own hands \u2014 its appearance, miraculous.<br \/>\nthroughout her hair: a crown of wild-flowers, newly blossomed,<br \/>\nprovoking desire-. All was arranged by Pallas Athena.<\/div>\n<div>Onto her head: a golden diadem made by the renowned, broken-footed-god.<br \/>\nHe shaped and perfected it with his own hands, to please his father Zeus:<span class=\"line-number\">590<\/span><br \/>\nAcross it, he overlaid intricate scenes \u2014 their appearance, miraculous\u2014<\/div>\n<p>of monsters of earth and sea, many and massive,<br \/>\nbut all contained within the diadem. He depicted them with such allure,<br \/>\nso miraculous, that you\u2019d swear the animals were alive.<\/p>\n<p>The woman was Zeus\u2019 trick: a beautiful evil in return for something good.<span class=\"line-number\">595<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Next, he revealed her to the gathered assembly of gods and men.<br \/>\nHer appearance was a testament to the skill of the owl-eyed daughter of a mighty father.<br \/>\nAll the immortal gods and mortal men gazed upon he r\u2014 her appearance, miraculous \u2014<br \/>\nas they beheld this inescapable trap, irresistible to men.<\/p>\n<p>The species of female women originated with her and<span class=\"line-number\">600<\/span><br \/>\nshe was the start of that whole destructive race,<br \/>\nthis terrible plague for mankind. They squat within the homes of mortal men,<br \/>\nunbearable in Poverty, barely tolerable in Plenty:<br \/>\nJust like:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>bees, within their domed hives,<span class=\"line-number\">605<\/span><br \/>\nwork to feed the drones \u2014 where they go, hard work follows.<br \/>\nEvery moment of the day, from dawn to dusk<br \/>\nthe bees exhaust themselves, laying out white honeycomb<br \/>\nwhile the drones lounge inside the domed hives,<br \/>\nthe work of one goes straight into the belly of the other.<\/em><span class=\"line-number\">610<\/span><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s just the same for mortal men: women are the bearers of suffering,<br \/>\ncreated by high-thundering Zeus.<br \/>\nWherever women go, hard work follows.<br \/>\nZeus gave one more evil in return for the good:<\/p>\n<p><em>[Option 1:]<\/em><br \/>\nLet\u2019s say someone manages to avoid marriage, women, and all those anxieties \u2014<span class=\"line-number\">615<\/span><br \/>\ndisaster then comes in old age: since he chose not to marry,<br \/>\nwho takes care of him at life\u2019s end? And even if his needs are met<br \/>\nin life \u2014 well then, after death<br \/>\nthere are no children to carry on his legacy. His hard work profits<br \/>\nonly distant relatives.<span class=\"line-number\">620<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>[Option 2:]<\/em><br \/>\nLet\u2019s say someone chooses the fate of marriage:<br \/>\nEither he manages to find a wife he can trust, their hearts perfectly matched<br \/>\nbut still lives in fear that this comfort will one day give way to suffering.<br \/>\nOr he marries an abusive type, a troublemaker \u2014<br \/>\nthat is a source of chest-clutching anxiety for the rest of his life.<span class=\"line-number\">625<\/span><br \/>\nHeadache and heartache too. Trust me, this suffering is incurable.<\/p>\n<p>The moral: you can\u2019t deceive or outwit the mind of Zeus.<br \/>\nNot even the son of Iapetos, Prometheus, the helpful-trickster<br \/>\ncould get out from under his anger. Instead, he was crushed by a heavy sentence<br \/>\nand despite his slippery mind, was shackled in chains.<span class=\"line-number\">630<\/span><\/p>\n<h1>Hesiod, Works and Days (lines 1-106)<\/h1>\n<p>(translated by S. Ahmed, R. Nickel, and A. Rappold)<\/p>\n<p>Muses from Pieria, you who bestow fame through song<br \/>\ncome and tell of Zeus, celebrating your father in song.<br \/>\nThrough him, mortal men are famous and not famous,<br \/>\nspoken of and not spoken of, by the will of great Zeus.<br \/>\nWith ease he makes a man strong; with ease he crushes the mighty.<span class=\"line-number\">5<\/span><br \/>\nWith ease he degrades a distinguished man and exalts the obscure.<br \/>\nWith ease he straightens one who is bent over and shrivels the arrogant.<br \/>\nHigh-thundering Zeus, who dwells in lofty palaces.<br \/>\nHear, see, and listen; with justice keep our laws straight,<br \/>\nyou for your part; I for mine would tell Perses the way things are.<span class=\"line-number\">10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019ss not only one kind of Strife. On Earth<br \/>\nthere are two. The one, when you see her, you would praise;<br \/>\nthe other deserves blame. They possess diverse natures.<br \/>\nThe one promotes war \u2014 that evil \u2014 and division,<br \/>\nthe cruel one. No mortals love her, but by Necessity,<span class=\"line-number\">15<\/span><br \/>\nthrough the plans of the immortals, they honour this Strife, this burden.<br \/>\nThe other one, dark Night bore her first.<br \/>\nThe high-throned son of Kronos who dwells in the Sky,<br \/>\nset her down in the roots of Earth, and for men she is far better.<br \/>\nEven a deadbeat, even him, she\u2019s able to rouse to work.<span class=\"line-number\">20<\/span><br \/>\nA person in need of work sees another man,<br \/>\na rich man eager to plow and to sow<br \/>\nand build a good house. One neighbour competes with another<br \/>\nas he rushes toward riches. This Strife is good for mortals.<br \/>\nPotter vies with potter, carpenter with carpenter.<span class=\"line-number\">25<\/span><br \/>\nBeggar is jealous of beggar, poet of poet.<\/p>\n<p>Perses, set these words in your heart.<br \/>\nDon\u2019t allow Strife, who rejoices in evil, keep you from work,<br \/>\nas you watch for quarrels and eavesdrop in the marketplace.<br \/>\nThe season for marketplace quarrels is short<span class=\"line-number\">30<\/span><br \/>\nfor the man who hasn\u2019t yet stored up this year\u2019s crop,<br \/>\nharvested in season, the crop that Gaia brings, the grain of Demeter.<br \/>\nOnce you have enough of this, you can promote quarrels and division<br \/>\nover others\u2019 possessions. You\u2019ll get no second chance<br \/>\nto do this work.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 160px\">So come, let\u2019s settle our dispute<span class=\"line-number\">35<\/span><\/div>\n<div>with straight judgments, which come from Zeus and are best.<br \/>\nWe\u2019d already divided the farm. But you kept on taking<br \/>\nand carried off almost everything, always flattering the kings,<br \/>\nbribe-eaters; they specialize in making these kinds of judgments.<\/div>\n<p>They\u2019re fools: when asked to divide in half, they give the whole thing,<span class=\"line-number\">40<\/span><br \/>\nand soft \u2014 unfamiliar with the value of a hard day\u2019s work.<br \/>\nFor most men, the gods hide the way to make a living \u2014<br \/>\nthe easy way, at least. Otherwise, you\u2019d work only a single day,<br \/>\nharvest food for the year and spend the rest relaxing.<br \/>\nSoon you\u2019d hang up your plow-handles to dry,<span class=\"line-number\">45<\/span><br \/>\nfinished with the work of oxen and much-enduring mules.<\/p>\n<p>Any hope for this carefree life was concealed by an angry Zeus \u2014<br \/>\nhis heart, filled with bile at crooked-minded Prometheus\u2019 deception \u2014<br \/>\nhis mind, focused on a scheme: how to bring painful suffering to mankind.<\/p>\n<p>First, Zeus hid fire. But the helpful son of Iapetos,<span class=\"line-number\">50<\/span><br \/>\nstealing from wise-minded Zeus, gave it back to mankind<br \/>\nby hiding it in a fennel stalk, deceiving Zeus who delights in thunder.<\/p>\n<p>In anger, cloud-gathering Zeus addressed him:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cSon of Iapetus, you never miss a chance to show off your intellect.<br \/>\nYou\u2019re pleased with yourself, because you stole fire and outwitted me.<span class=\"line-number\">55<\/span><br \/>\nThis will prove disastrous for you. For mankind too.<br \/>\nIn exchange for fire, I\u2019ll devise a truly wicked trade: a gift all<br \/>\nwill choose to accept with open arms, willingly embracing their own suffering.\u201d<\/div>\n<div>As he said this, he couldn\u2019t stop laughing: the father of men and of gods.<\/div>\n<p>Next, Zeus issued these commands: <span class=\"line-number\">60<\/span><\/p>\n<p>to Hephaistos, famous for his creations:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cmake a mixture of earth and water and pour into it a human voice<br \/>\nand the same spirit as well. Mould its face to resemble a goddess<br \/>\nand shape its body like that of a young virgin, innocently exciting desire.\u201d<\/div>\n<p>to Athena:<span class=\"line-number\">65<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cteach her to craft and weave careful art upon the loom\u201d<\/div>\n<p>to gold-adorned Aphrodite:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201canoint her with allure, body-devouring longing and painful need.\u201d<\/div>\n<p>to Hermes, Watchdog Slayer and Guide, he commanded:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cinstall a bitch\u2019s mind and a criminal\u2019s heart.\u201d <span class=\"line-number\">70<\/span><\/div>\n<p>They all obeyed the commands of Kronos\u2019 son, king Zeus.<br \/>\nThe renowned, broken-footed god swiftly moulded from Earth<br \/>\nthe shape of a virginal girl, cheeks blushing modestly, according to the plans of Kronos\u2019 son.<br \/>\ndivine, owl-eyed Athena was in charge of clothing and adornment:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">the divine Graces and queenly Persuasion set onto<span class=\"line-number\">75<\/span><br \/>\nthe inviting skin of her neck golden bands. For her hair,<br \/>\na crown of spring blossoms from the beautifully-coiffed Seasons.<\/div>\n<p>All was arranged invitingly across her naked skin by Pallas Athena.<br \/>\nBut in her breast, Hermes the Guide, Watchdog Slayer, installed<br \/>\na tricky, lying tongue and a criminal\u2019s heart.<span class=\"line-number\">80<\/span><br \/>\nAll was done according to the plans of loud-thundering Zeus.<\/p>\n<p>Last of all, the gods\u2019 messenger placed a voice in her and announced her name:<br \/>\nPandora: because because all the Olympian gods gave her gifts,<br \/>\nthough she would be a plague for labouring men.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, when he\u2019d completed his inescapable trap, irresistible to men,<span class=\"line-number\">85<\/span><br \/>\nfather Zeus sent out Hermes, the Watchdog Slayer, to Epimetheus.<br \/>\nThe swift messenger of the gods brought the gift. But Epimetheus<br \/>\nonly considered in hindsight Prometheus\u2019 forewarning:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u201cNever accept gifts from Olympian Zeus. Send everything back,<br \/>\nDon\u2019t bring it into your house, or I fear mortals will suffer for it.\u201d<span class=\"line-number\">90<\/span><\/div>\n<p>Only after Epimetheus accepted the gift, after he held suffering in his arms, did he understand.<\/p>\n<p>Before:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">all men, across the earth, used to prosper<br \/>\nfree from suffering, hard work<br \/>\nand painful disease: for men, these are death-bringers<br \/>\nbecause those who weather these evils become old before their time.<span class=\"line-number\">95<\/span><\/div>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">The woman removed the heavy lid of the jar with her own hands, and<br \/>\ndriven by her own thoughts, unleashed sorrows for men, death-bringers.<br \/>\nHope alone remained in its unbreakable home,<br \/>\ncaught underneath the lip of the jar. Its escape<br \/>\nwas only a short flight away, but, just in time, she slammed the lid down. <span class=\"line-number\">100<\/span><br \/>\nAll according to the plan of aegis-bearing, cloud-gathering Zeus.<\/div>\n<p>Now:<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px\">Ten thousand or more sorrows roam free among all mankind.<br \/>\nSuffering is inescapable on land and sea.<br \/>\nWorse, diseases stalk human beings day and night,<br \/>\nspreading everywhere, out of control; for men, they bring wails of grief, <span class=\"line-number\">105 <\/span><br \/>\nsilently since their divine voice was removed by cunningly wise Zeus.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The moral: in the end, there is no way to evade the mind of Zeus.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"menu_order":8,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-88","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/88\/revisions\/277"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/88\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/myths\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}