When Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, was young and trying to establish his rule, he was challenged by a group of ferocious Titans, who tried to keep him from gaining power. A long and terrible war ensued, with all the Olympian gods joined against the Titans, who were led by Cronus and Atlas.
After ten years of fighting, and with the help of the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires (The Hundred-Handed-Ones), Zeus and his fellow Olympians defeated the Titans. Only a few Titans, including Themis, Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus, fought on the side of Zeus - against their fellow Titans - and once Zeus won, he rewarded them.
But soon Prometheus made Zeus very angry by stealing fire from Mount Olympus and giving it to the race of mortal men living on earth, who were cold and hungry. Zeus had warned Prometheus not to give fire to men, and was outraged that anyone had the nerve to ignore his command.
Still, he would seem ungrateful if he appeared to forget the important role that Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus had played in the war against the Titans, and he couldn't just kill the brothers, so he cunningly devised a scheme to get even!
In revenge, Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of smiths, to craft a gorgeous woman out of earth and water. The beautiful goddess of Love, Aphrodite, was asked to pose as a model, just to make sure the woman was perfect. Once this was done, the Four Winds (or some say Hephaestus himself) breathed life into her and there she lay sleeping, brand spanking new!
The first mortal woman on earth was to be bestowed with unparalleled charm and beauty, and her unknown mission would be to bring mischief and misery upon the human race. Zeus then summoned the other Olympians and asked them each to give this new creation a gift.
Aphrodite adorned her with beauty, grace and desire; Hermes, the Messenger god, gave her cunning and boldness; Demeter showed her how to tend a garden; Athena taught her manual dexterity and to spin; Apollo taught her to sing sweetly and play the lyre; Poseidon's gift was a pearl necklace and the god of the sea promised her that she would never drown.
But Zeus also made her foolish, mischievous and idle. This was the first woman, divine in appearance but quite human in reality.
The gods called her Pandora, which means "All-gifted", or "The gift of all", because each god had given her a power by which she would work the ruin of man, and because of the many presents bestowed upon her at Olympus.
Lovely Pandora was created to become the wife of the Titan Epimetheus, who was the not-very-bright brother of Prometheus, the one who had gotten on Zeus' bad side. Before sending her to earth, the gods held a big banquet and Hermes, the Messenger god, presented Pandora with a splendidly crafted jar (some say a box), adorned with wonderful images. But Hermes warned Pandora that she must never open the jar (box)! She must NEVER open the box...And then Zeus' wife, Hera, gave her the quality of curiosity! Tell me, is that fair?
They also gave her silvery raiment and a broidered veil, and in her hair they placed bright garlands of fresh flowers and a wonderful crown of gold. Her gowns were most sumptuous and she was truly a vision from heaven.When Pandora was finally brought out and shown to the gods, resplendent in all the finery she had received, great amazement and wonder took hold of them, such was the effect of her beauty.
