Eve and Pandora
Historically, women have been viewed as the downfall of mankind. Temptation, lust, and vanity are the detriments supposedly beset by the first woman. Whether Eve or Pandora came first is irrelevant. They will be remembered as the ones responsible for ruining man and mankind forever. However, both stories should be explored to determine if the myths hold some truth or if it just the result of a sexist storyteller in a male dominated society during biblical times. In the story of Adam and Eve, woman is created merely from the rib of Adam. In the book of Genesis, it says, "So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.'"(Genesis, 2:21). Since man was created in the image of God, Eve should not be held completely accountable as the root of all evil. We can derive from this story, however, that because Eve was made from only part of Adam, that she is the weaker sex. Once the serpent had swayed her
been confronted by the serpent, I am sure that the story would have had just about the same outcome. Therefore, it is hypocritical to say that Eve was at fault for the destruction of man when Adam may have done the same exact thing in the same situation. Furthermore, Adam ate of the fruit, which makes him to blame as well. Are the gods liable for all of this anarchy? Is God at fault for having all of this in his divine prophecy? None of this calamity would have happened at all if the gods or God had not intervened in the first place. When God told Adam and Eve not to take from the tree of knowledge, he knew that, out of curiosity, they would partake in the tasty treat. Not to mention the serpent who was created by none other than God himself. The gods, in the other story, created all of the terrible things and are also at fault for what took place. What makes us human, essentially, is because of what happened with Eve and Pandora. If these events had not taken place, supposedly, there would be no death nor procreation, as we know it. If either of these tales or both actually happened, then it was meant to be. Lust and sex are some of the greatest aspects of life. A debt of gratitude, rather than disgrace, should be laid upon these women and their stories. The only thing that makes these gods different is the cause of their actions. Whereas God put Eve on earth to accompany Adam, Zeus' actions were more out of Adam, although strong and independent, felt the need for a counterpart. Would it be inconceivable to partially credit him with some of the misfortune? If the blame has to fall somewhere, I think he is enough of a man to take some of the responsibility. As a society we have been patronized with the idea to take for granted that he was not flawed. Of course, to some extent, we are supposed to believe they all are perfect. With the Pandora story, the man was cursed with only the flaw of desiring an 'evil' woman. Despite Epimetheus' relation to a god, what made him such a great guy? Nothing. His one-dimensional nature allowed him to be seduced by 'the weaker sex.'
Some common words found in the essay are:
Referring Bible, Adam Epimetheus, Furthermore Adam, Eve Adam, Eve Pandora, Adam Eve, Adam Zeus', Lord God, Despite Epimetheus', Zeus Hesiod's, eve adam, adam ate fruit, adam ate, women blame, fire stolen, ate fruit, lord god, god eve, root evil, forbidden fruit, tree knowledge,
Approximate Word count = 1628
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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