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My first breath came from Zeus. He was the first God I saw when I opened my eyes. He gave me life, and later my curiosity. Though he didn’t speak to me when I looked him in the eye. He merely stepped away.
~
The place where I was born was wondrous. Far above in the clouds, amongst the mightiest of gods, I stood. It was in their home they granted me their gifts.
“It’s me who my husband moulded you after,” the breathtaking goddess who bore the name Aphrodite told me. She circled around me, inspecting me head to toe. Her hands ran over my skin and then summoned a feather. “See this feather? To be graceful is to be like the feather.”
“Your movements,” she said, guiding my arms, “are to be light and rounded, flowing through the air.” Aphrodite let me go, yet my arms continued to move perfectly. I let out a soft gasp and twirled around.
As I did so, a pair of stern eyes caught mine. That’s when I met Athena. In her grey eyes lay knowledge unknown to many. Glimpses of it passed to me while she held my eyes. I willed my body to stop moving. The wise goddess talked with a clear voice, much like a calm stream flowing.
“Step forward.” I did so, and Athena draped a toga over my skin. She took my hands in hers, which made my hands tingle. “I think you’ll find yourself accomplished with your hands now.” A snicker sounded from my left. When I turned, I found myself looking at a man.
“Hermes is the name,” he said, and then bowed to me. The man wore an everlasting grin on his face and peculiar shoes with wings attached to them. “It’s an honour to finally meet you, Pandora.” Murmurs grew around me, echoing my freshly given name.
“May I step closer?” He asked humbly, though he didn’t wait for my answer. Just like Aphrodite had, his eyes passed over my body. When he looked up, he wore a face of sorrow. “You truly are beautiful.” Hermes tilted his head. “I pity you for it.”
He then held up his hand. “Give me yours.” I placed my right hand in his, which Hermes guided to his chest. Underneath I felt his heart beating. He then placed his hand on my right bosom. “Feel that?” The god closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he grinned. "That happens to be very fragile and is easily manipulated. Especially within the human species. All you have to know are the right words to use.” The god outright cackled at his own words now. “And I think you'll know them.”
When Hermes stepped away, back into the circle surrounding me, Zeus put his hand on my shoulder. “Behold, my humble favour to mankind: Pandora!” Loud laughter erupted around me. That’s when I suddenly felt I was missing something. To that, I furrowed my brow. Before me laid a puzzle, incomplete by just a few pieces, yet I could not distinguish what it was trying to show me. But I was burning to see the complete picture, and was willing to start fires to find out.
~
Hermes, with his everlasting smirk, didn’t speak a word while he escorted me down to earth. Not that I minded because what I saw was unreal! Up with the Gods was an everlasting nothing. But down here…
Down here was a limited everything. Every time I looked around I discovered something new. Water, a brighter blue than the sky, and rocks covered with plants. And hidden in and beneath those plants were thousands of animals.
Only when we’d first hit the ground, he spoke:
“Do you know the meaning of your name?”
I tilted my head. Athena had granted me wisdom, but not of this calibre. So I shook my head in response.
“All-Gifts.” A humorous smile played around his lips. “I’m here to bring you to Epimetheus, the titan. Zeus is offering you as his bride.”
“Epimetheus?”
“Prometheus’ brother.” Prometheus I did know. Athena told me his name, along with what he’d done. I shrugged.
“He stole fire.” I took a second to think. “He angered Zeus.” A piece clicked then. Prometheus stole fire, and humans accepted. Zeus would never, under no circumstances, grant humans a gift after they’d done such a thing. “I’m no gift, am I?”
Hermes said nothing.
My meeting with Epimetheus passed by. Wedding arrangements were made. But I couldn't care less. My mind was working hard to process everything I’d learned and apply it to all I was experiencing now. A polite smile here. An elegant bow there. Time flew by, and before I knew it I was walking towards Epimetheus on my wedding day, on a cold January afternoon. I wore an exquisite crown in my hair and a beautifully embroidered veil to cover my face. I felt Hera’s presence, for I’d felt it before.
When Epimetheus lifted the veil, a smile made its way onto my face. The audience broke out in soft smiles and soft whispers: what a perfect couple they had found.
It was then that my heart burned, for the puzzle was finally pieced together.
~
“Who was I to refuse the path marked by the gods?”
I averted my eyes to the young woman before me, who listened to my story very closely. I felt my time with her was running out, and I couldn't leave her without her knowing the whole story. I wouldn't. Not before she knew her mother wasn’t a monster.
“I was a mere tool in their plan. But men, men told me I was the curse. They cast me out. Yet I brought them progress, something they weren’t capable of inventing on their own. Prometheus may have granted them fire, but I gave them civilisation. Still, they curse my name and dare bring horrors upon my daughters.” I cupped my daughter's face. “And for that, Pyrrha my darling, I’ll haunt mankind forever.”
Pyrrha leaned into my touch, her bright red hair tickling my hand. She hesitated before she spoke. “But mother, we’re merely humans. You’ll soon be gone. How can you haunt them forever?”
To that, I smiled and bopped her nose. “Because of you. Because of your sisters. Because of all daughters to come. They may forget my name and my story, but they will never be able to get rid of what I left behind.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “Women.”