The worst thing Pandora could have done is to leave Hope in the box.
Yes, sure, Pandora shouldn’t have opened the box in the first place, but since she did, she shouldn’t have closed it on hope, keeping it trapped forever.
Pandora’s Box Of Trapped Hope
For the sake of keeping this bit short and getting right to the point. I will skip the long beginning of the story get right into Pandora having been given the jar, which we commonly call a box (and for the entire article will be called a box), and told not to open it under any circumstances. But, her curiosity, her need to know, led her to open the box. Inside the box were the most terrible things known to mankind. Things such as greed, pestilence, death, illness, suffering of all kinds, and last of all… Hope. When she opened the box, all of these plagues were said to escape and this is why we suffer from these things to this day. However, the one thing that did not get out of the box, was Hope. Pandora was able to close the box before Hope could escape.
This story has been told over the years, and explained as Hope being kept in the box is a good thing because that means there is still Hope.
Variations In The Pandora Story
Well, I did a little bit of research before writing this and most accounts tell of Hope being kept in the box, but others say she let Hope out. The ones that say she let Hope out I found on websites directed at children, to tell them there is Hope in the world. I could not find any evidence pointing to Hope actually being released in the original myth.
So, because of the children’s versions of the tale that I found, I know that I am obviously not the only one to think of this, but I am bothered that they altered the story from the original myth.
Here’s Where I have Issues…
I am bothered very much by Hope being left in the box for our own good, for the good of humanity, for the good of the world. This doesn’t make sense to me, and it never has. It is only recently that this has surfaced to my mind again and I find myself having to share my thoughts on it. I know I can’t be the only one thinking this way.
How can leaving Hope trapped in a box, hidden away from the world, where it cannot be accessed be a good thing? Wouldn’t it be better if Hope got out too? Shouldn’t Hope be let out of the box to help eradicate all the things wrong with the earth and mankind? That is the purpose of Hope, right?
If we have no Hope, then we have no way of believing we can end our torments and suffering. We have nothing to look forward to. Without Hope, we accept all those things that are said to be plaguing us because they were let out because of one woman’s curiosity. Hope is our way out, our path to freedom, our path to longevity and health.
As mentioned above, it has been explained, by some, that by keeping Hope locked in the box, the box which is never to be opened again, Hope is kept safe so that it cannot get away and leave us.
Wait… What?
Step back for a minute on that! How does that make sense?
If all the other plagues that came out of the box were unleashed upon us and are still with us to this very day and are not going anywhere, then wouldn’t Hope do the same thing? Wouldn’t Hope stay with us as well? Why would Hope be the only thing to escape and not hang around? It doesn’t make sense?
Hope would stay here, just as the other torments and sufferings have. Hope would eliminate them, or at the very least, dampen them, making them less frequent and less severe.
Pandora’s Hope needs to be set free. Pandora’s box needs to be opened once again. It is our only chance at a peaceful world, where we can live in peace and harmony.
Please, let Hope out into the world. Open Pandora’s Box. Maybe then, Hope can come out, or maybe Hope will stay there and will help put the bad things that escaped back inside the box where they belong, to be sealed away forever.