Tribute to Hope

When you read Greek Mythology one thing is sure, there will never be a boring moment. We may not agree with them today, but centuries later, their illustrious imagination still keeps us dumbfounded!

According to ancient Greek mythology when the first woman on this earth was made of water and clay by order of Zeus the supreme ruler of all Greek Gods . This first woman was to be gifted with a talent or a quality of each & every single Greek God  (and they had plenty) . Thus she was named Pandora which roughly means ‘who is gifted with all’. Among her many qualities & talents were beauty, music, persuasion and also curiosity.

Pandora was also given a jar with everything evil in it. (it is said a sixteenth century mistranslation of the Greek word ‘pithos’ which is a large jar, as a ‘box’ changed  what should have been Pandora’s Jar into the now famous ‘Pandora’s Box’) she was given this jar and ordered not to open it under any circumstance. But remember this beautiful lady was also given the gift of curiosity! She could not resist her curiosity or as they say, her curiosity got the better of her!

As she opened the lid of the jar (or box) everything in the jar (well, almost everything) escaped from this confinement.! Out flew every kind of disease and sickness, hate and envy, and all the bad emotions that never experienced freedom before!! Pandora slammed the lid close, but it was too late! Everything evil was already out of the box. They flew away, out into the world.

Deep in her misery, Pandora heard one last creature in the jar, pleading to be out! “My name is Hope.”  What could be worse that what has already happened?  Pandora in her total despair, opened the jar one last time and let the sweet little creature out! With a nod of thanks for being set free, Hope flew out into the world, a world that now held Envy, Crime, Hate, and Disease – and also Hope.

It is hope that keeps us going, that gives us the courage to face sicknesses, uncertain future and what gives us the strength to face new worlds and frontiers.  We marry our spouses, face new ventures, go to foreign countries or learn new skills.

The famed English poet, novelist & lexicographer (A Dictionary Of The English Language) Samuel Johnson so eloquently said " A second marriage is the triumph of Hope over Experience" !