Where did women come from? The myth of Pandora and Eve

UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

FARAI MUSHANGWE

PROGRAMME: B.A.A.III

COURSE CODE: ClS 3050

QUESTION: Where did women come from? Refer to any two creation myth, one of them Greek.

The two women whom many women claim ancestors are Pandora and Eve who are portrayed as first in the myth .Therefore the myth of creation claimed that the first woman was created from the Earth by Hephaestus which is a Greek myth. Also the bible myth explain that Eve was created from the rib of Adam .Both myth have countered that Women are less as compared to men because men presented as superior to women .For from her is descended the female sex , a great affliction to mortals as they dwell with their husbands according to Hesiod^[1]. One need to note that in both myths, creation of women was as result of some sort of punishment which means the first women was cursed or come to the world to enhance punishment of gods or God. Adam called his mate women, which means she-man or joined to man, because she was taken out of man^[2]. Also the creation counter for the submission of women which means that the fact that women were created after man .More so one can argue that creation of women myth were gender blind because the use of women is primarily that of bearing children.

The myth of Pandora had been rewritten by several scholars who pin point that Pandora was the first women to be created by Olympian gods as result of punishing men .Hephaestus is usually identified as the white –bearded man second from the left ,obeying Zeus command to fashion Pandora from the earth and water according to P.Simons^[3]. This shows that the first woman in creation myth in Greek was Pandora and therefore according to this myth by default she was the mother of all women race. She is given a voice, lies conniving words and a thievish disposition according to Wickkiser^[4].Therefore the creation of Pandora was linked to be the first woman and the first among women. One can argue that creation of the first woman was as a result of explaining the natural suffering which afflicts both women and men. This supported by P.Simons^[5], that Epimetheus is given no warning once he forgets Prometheus advice, for the travail of desire and marriage is there after an inevitable male condition in this misogynistic story. Therefore Pandora was created from the earth and water.

Further, Pandora in the Theogony and that from works and days seems to differ in the sense that the other was named but the other woman was not named which had confused some of the scholars. Pandora of the Theogony by stark contrast is a statics silent, mindless, intention less object according to Wickkiser^[6]. He ordered Athene to teach her works, to weave richly worked cloth, and golden Aphrodite to pour around her head grace and painful desire and limb-devouring cares; and he ordered Hermes, the messenger, the slayer of Argos, to put in a dog's mind and a thievish nature according to According to L.G. Frazer^[7]. Therefore one can argue that Pandora was first created at the command of Zeus and she was the first woman .Also the creation biased in the sense that Pandora was not to be an aid to male but destruction to the Iron Age race .So using the myth all women came from Pandora In addition, the other interesting thing about Greek myth is that even features can further be packaged in the creation process such as attraction, beauty and deception .Pandora is irresistibly attractive but while Aphrodite seductive beauty is associated with deception and Pandora alluring charms is viewed as an actual evil. In Theogony Pandora is created because Zeus majesty has been threatened by Prometheus in matter of sacrifices and theft of fire according to Hesiod^[8].This support the view of P.Marquardt that the threat posed by women, however is psychological as well as economic, for Pandora deceptive beauty inspires cruel longings^[9]. Therefore some scholars give credit to Hesiod for trying to account for the origin of women. She has the capacity to act and does in fact: she removes and replaces the lid of the pithos according to Wickkiser^[10]. This shows that the fact that Pandora was able to act without consulting the male partner showed that women are not supposed to act independently .Then the Lord of Olympus directed golden Aphrodite to give her the qualities of love and desire according to Hesiod^[11]. Therefore the desire which women have can be traced from Pandora the first women.

Furthermore, the other myth which postulates that Eve was created from the rib of Adam shows masculinity historiography. God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam then he took one of his ribs and from it created first women Eve^[12].This shows that the first woman came from the rib and because of that less important and can be treated as a second class citizen and one need to note that creation myth were gendered to serve a common purpose that of subordination of women .Adam called his mate women, which means she –man or joined to man, because she was taken out of men^[13]. Therefore, Eve had been considered the first woman and also the first to experience the nine month punishment of labor pains from God for helping Adam to sin and the calamities which faces people around the world. Also the myth of Eve although different from that of Pandora but both bears the responsibility for mankind misery.

In addition the confirmation of the creation of Eve can be supported by the ancient sources which shows how Adam answered God that the one whom you have given me was the cause of the sin .This means that God was responsible for the creation of the first woman .Instead of acknowledging his guilt, Adam puts it upon the woman, yea even upon God himself when he adds the words, whom thou gavest to me .. according J.M. Higgins^[14]. Therefore Eve in the bible myth was created to give comfort to Adam and the bible states that before Eve life was good without misery and the misery came as a result of the sin of Eve. Also the creation of Eve after man can be interpreted as a sign of her subordination to him. It is generally understand that it is Eve who bears the blame for the original sin and the fall from the Garden of Eden^[15].This means that myth of Eve had another purpose rather showing the origin of women. Eve's creation from Adam's rib fuels both the misogynists' arguments for woman's innate crookedness as well as the defense of companionate marriage that sees in Eve and Adam's conjunction an ideal modeling of "mutual society, help, and comfort according to D.W. Rice^[16].This support the idea of presenting women as the source of trouble and also point to the fact the creation of the first woman was not natural like that of man.

All in all, the Greek myth and the bible myth encounter the origin of the first women in the world and how they were created .gods and God are ones responsible for creation of the woman and from both myths the first woman was responsible for the misery which faces human race today .Also Pandora and Eve were able to act independently which means that although the historiography point to masculinity or gender bias .Therefore the major purpose for the first woman is clear from the creation that one of bringing misery to human race .

Bibliography

Frazer.LG, A Woman of Consequences: Pandora in Hesiod Works and days, The Cambridge Classical Journal, Vol.57,(2011).

Higgins.J.M, The Myth of Eve: The Temptress, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol.44, No.4 (1976).

http://www.harvesttime.org.

Marquardt.A.P ,Hesiod’s Ambiguous View of Women , Classical Philology,vol.77,No.4 (1982).

Rice.W.D ,Reviewed Works: Adam and Eve in Seventeeth –Century Thought by P.C. Almond , Religion and Literature,Vol.34,No.1(2002).

Simons. P, Diero Di Cosimo Creation of Pandora, Source : Notes in the History of Art, Vol.34.No.2 (2015).

West.M.L (trans), Theogony and Works and Day,Oxford University press,1988.

Wickisser.L.B, Hesiod and the fabricated Women: Poetry and Visual art in the Thoegony, Mnemosyne, Vol.63,(2010).

^[1] M.L. West (trans),Theogony and Works and Day , Oxford University press,1988,p.20

^[2] http://www.harvesttime.org

^[3] P.Simons,Diero Di Cosimo Creation of Pandora , Source : Notes in the History of Art,Vol.34.No.2(2015),P.37

^[4] B.L.Wickisser ,Hesiod and the fabricated Women: Poetry and Visual art in the Theogony, Mnemosyne,Vol.63,(2010),p.560

^[5] P.Simons,Diero Di Cosimo Creation of Pandora , Source : Notes in the History of Art,Vol.34.No.2(2015),p.38

^[6] B.L.Wickisser ,Hesiod and the fabricated Women: Poetry and Visual art in the Theogony, Mnemosyne,Vol.63,(2010),p.561

^[7] L.G.Frazer, A Woman of Consequences : Pandora in Hesiod Works and days, The Cambridge Classical Journal,Vol.57,(2011),P.10

^[8] M.L.West(trans),Theogony and Works and Day , Oxford University press,1988,p.39

^[9] P.A.Marquardt ,Hesiod’s Ambiguous View of Women , Classical Philology,vol.77,No.4 (1982),p.299

^[10] B.L.Wickisser ,Hesiod and the fabricated Women: Poetry and Visual art in the Theogony, Mnemosyne,Vol.63,(2010),p.560

^[11] M.L. West(trans),Theogony and Works and Day , Oxford University press,1988,p.2

^[12] http://www.harvesttime.org

^[13] http://www.harvesttime.org

^[14] J.M.Higgins, The Myth of Eve : The Temptress , Journal of the American Academy of Religion,Vol.44,No.4(1976),p.642

^[15] http://www.harvesttime.org

^[16] D.W.Rice ,Reviewed Works: Adam and Eve in Seventeeth –Century Thought by P.C. Almond , Religion and Literature,Vol.34,No.1(2002),p.82