The story of Pandora is an
origin story, much like the Garden of Eden. In each case, the first woman is
created, only to unleash evil into the world. According to the Greek telling,
Pandora was created by Zeus to punish Prometheus and Epimetheus for giving fire
to Man. She was forged in heaven by Hephaestus and given beauty by Aphrodite,
persuasion by Hermes, music by Apollo, and so on. Zeus sent Pandora down as a
“gift” to be Epimetheus’s wife. In his abode was a jar, filled with all the
noxious articles without which Man would survive. However, Pandora’s
curiosity—a gift from the gods—overtook her, and she opened the jar, releasing
pestilence and toil and famine into the world forever. The only good thing that
escaped from the jar was hope.
Many distinct forms of evil
flourish in our world, sadly, and to pick one specific transgression to squelch
would implicitly belittle the others as less evil. Therefore, I wish I could squelch
not one single evil, but rather a cause for many evils: apathy. So much that is
wrong in this world continues not because people support it, but because they
lack the motivation to speak up and act out against it. Without the persistent
lassitude that infects our daily lives, the moral arc of the universe would
bend more sharply toward justice. As Edmund Burke wrote, "The only thing
necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." That is why I would do away with
sloth.
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