The story of Pandora: Is hope a blessing or a curse?

Discussion in 'Joker’s Funhouse (Off Topic)' started by Has2besaid, Aug 10, 2013.

  1. Has2besaid Committed Player

    Hey People,

    I was reading the first 2 issues of Trinity of Sin: Pandora, a tie in to Trinity War today. It wasn't very interesting to tell you the truth, but it did encourage me to read some articles about the original Pandora and her legendary box. (which was only deemed a box due to a bad translation.

    The two different iterations of the story were fascinating and since I find your opinions equally so, I though I'd share. In most interpretations the story goes like this. (Hmmn, I feel like I'm telling a bed time story so I'll start it like one. Once upon a time, long, long, ago, Zeus the god of the gods, angry that Prometheus had given mankind fire, decided to punish them. He did this by ordering Haephestus (the blacksmith of the gods) to create a beautiful and innocent woman. (the first woman to be exact). Then he ordered his fellow gods to bless her with various gifts like beauty, charm, curiosity, and other good things. Then he had Haephestus created the box which h filled with evil and woe. Zeus then gave the box to Pandora without telling her what was inside. Before sending her to Earth, all Zeus told her was that under no circumstances should she ever open the box and she in turn promised that she wouldn't. Very shortly afterward, Pandora's curiosity go the better of her and she opened said box. Upon doing so, evil was released upon the earth and has ravaged mankind ever since. Once Pandora realized what she had released she tried to close the box, however it was too late and the spirits of despair, woe, tragedy, and evil taunted Pandora as they flew off.

    Now here is the part that is intriguing. As I said above, Pandora tried to close the box. What is rarely told is that when she checked the box, there was only one thing that had not escaped. It was the (spirit) gift of Hope, and that was said to have remained with mankind forever.

    Some scholars say this was sign that in the story Zeus had decided not to be overly cruel and left hope at the bottom of the box as a blessing so that mankind would have a chance of triumphing over the spirits of despair, woe, tragedy, and evil. However, other scholars say that Zeus placed at the bottom of the box the cruelest punishment of all, knowing Pandora would catch hope before it too had fled, for by giving man hope, he made sure that man would forever labor against that which he could never defeat or strive for that he could never obtain, and thus suffer forever. The argument for the latter is that the box was meant to hold evil, and thus if hope wasn't evil, it would not have been in the box.

    Now today we romanticize the concept of hope quite a bit, but putting the romantic spin aside, I can see the argument for both sides. Indeed, just as surely as hope is what drives person to keep doing CPR until help arrives in the hope of saving someone's life, or to keep walking through an arctic wilderness until they find their way to the nearest ranger station; its also the type of thing that allows despots to believe they can conquer the world through, or stalker boyfriends or girlfriends to keep harassing their ex's in the belief that tenacity will win them back.

    So which do you think hope is more akin to? An blessing or an evil, and why?
  2. Has2besaid Committed Player

    P.S. its determined that when translate its not supposed to read Pandora's "box" but rather "jar".
  3. Mont New Player

    umm yes
  4. PureDarkness Dedicated Player

    You mean: "Yes, hope is a blessing or a curse", right? XD
  5. Mont New Player

    ummm yeah , thats it of course :rolleyes:
  6. PureDarkness Dedicated Player

    I think we have to banish you from the Funhouse for trying to bring such a corrupt thing as philosophy here. Go away! :p
  7. Mont New Player

    lol, n here i thought id be banished for posting sanity on a dead thread
  8. lilithmoon New Player

    Hope is a curse to some and a blessing to others. Really depends on the circumstances.
  9. Shaveric Committed Player

  10. Oddpodd Dedicated Player

  11. Mont New Player

    knew sisters named Hope n charity. i hoped hope would go out with me, but it was charitys charity that got me a date, hope found out n was a curse to us after
  12. SuperSoldier Devoted Player

    One can only hope that it is a blessing and not a curse...:confused:
  13. Mick93 New Player

    Yea borderlands 2 is awesome
  14. Black Arrowette Well-Known Player

    Hope is a curse. Hope led me to falsely believe that I ever had a chance with someone I fell for. Hope can go eat a satchel of male genitals.
  15. Has2besaid Committed Player

    It made me ignore many a beautiful woman in the hopes that my ex would get back together with me. Ever since then I've relied on religious faith and faith in myself and family more than hope. I think faith is more akin to being confident and secure than hope is.
  16. melvinpox Devoted Player

    Is it not hope for something that motivates us all to action?

    We go to work because we hope to get a paycheck.
    We get married because we hope to live happilly ever after.
    We go to the doctor's because we hope to get better.

    We order particular things off a menu because we hope they will taste good, be nutritious, etc.
    We post here because we hope to illicit some sort of reaction whether it be positive or negative.

    Without hope there is no reason to do anything.

    Now faith...that is the substance of things hoped for, that is the evidence of things not seen.