Greek Mythology and the Human

Greek Mythology and the Human Experience

Ancient Greek mythology is filled with stories of titans, gods, demigods, heroes, and human beings and can provide an insight into how the Ancient Greeks viewed the nature of human existence. In general, human beings of the ancient world were not thought of as having any of the special characteristics prevalent in the world prior to their inception, and the creation of women was not believed to have been of benefit to the world. Two specific myths, that of Pandora and the Five Ages of Man are examples of how mythology can illuminate the relationship between men and women as well as the development and fate of human beings.

The origin of Pandora actually began with Prometheus, the titan who stole the secret of fire from the gods and gave it to man. As a punishment, Zeus ordered that Pandora be created in the forge of Hephaestus, endowed with beauty and abilities by Athena and Zeus, and presented as a gift to man. Pandora was to become the wife of Prometheus' brother Epimetheus; along with another special gift. The other gift was a jar, which some refer to as a box, with a label that warned the jar should never be opened. Of course, Pandora opened the jar and unwittingly unleashed all of the evil in the world.

Pandora, the first woman, was created as a plot by the king of the gods to punish mankind for Prometheus' actions. She was created with beauty, but also a cunning and will that would eventually cause great trouble. In fact, it was her meddling with things she should not have been meddling with that was the cause of all the evil in the world. Therefore, the Ancient Greeks viewed women as the cause of all the world's evil, and believed that women were put into the world in order to punish man. Using this as a foundation, the Ancient Greeks built a society in which women had few rights and were basically the property of men.

But women were only one aspect of Greek culture, a culture that seemed to be based on pessimistic beginnings. Hesiod's "The Five Ages of Man" describe a period in which the world slowly devolved from a paradise into the chaos and horror of the ancient world. The world went from a Golden Age, to a Silver Age, a Bronze Age, the Age of Heroes and finally the ancient world. And the fate of man deteriorated with each passing age. But not only was the world better in the past, the afterlife was also much better. Man went from a death that was little more than sleep, through several stages each more dire than the previous age, and finally to the horrors of Hades. The myth of the Five Ages of Man seems to describe the fall of mankind and the worsening fate that had arisen because of this fall.