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Nicole Melkonian English 181 Ms. Duck 11/12/16 Annotated Bibliography for Expertise Project D'Aulaire, Ingri, and Edgar P. D'Aulaire. D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. “Pandora’s Box.” Doubleday Book for Young Readers, 1962. Print. In D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, D'Aulaire tells the story of Pandora, the first mortal woman, created by Zeus and some of the other God’s, to serve as the wife of Epimetheus. Each of the God’s had given her a special gift: Aphrodite gave her beauty so she could please his eyes, Hermes give her a clever tongue so she could amuse him, Apollo gave her musical talents so she could entertain him, and Zeus gave her the gift of curiosity. As a wedding gift, Zeus also gave them a box, but told them to never open it. As a result of the gift of curiosity she received, Pandora greatly wished to open the box. Despite being warned not to by her husband, Pandora opened the box, and out came the various misery’s that were designed to wreck havoc on the mortals. Pandora had let out disease, cruelty, pain, old age, disappointment, hatred, war, death, and jealously and caused mortals to suffer. As shown in the myth, Pandora was literally created for a man, by a man, and to bear the sin of bringing misery to the mortals. As shown in the beginning of the story, her identity and her appearance was created in order to please her husband. She is given all positive and desirable qualities, except for her curiosity, which is painted in a negative light and shown as a quality that women should not have, because they do not know how to control it. Here, Pandora is shown as helpless, weak, and unable to resist her curiosity. Pandora attempts to tempt and persuade her husband into opening the box, but when he refuses, and so she does it alone. She is seen as a temptress, and her husband is seen as a victim. Pandora was sent to man as punishment, and is therefore the scapegoat for man, taking the blamed for all of the misery that mankind experience. "Genesis 2:4-3:24." The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments. Trenton: I. Collins, 1791. N. pag. Print. Genesis 2:4-3:24, is the creation story of Adam and Eve. In this section, God places man in the Garden of Eden to work in it and to take care of it. He tells man that they are free to eat from any tree in the Garden, with the expectation of the tree of knowledge. God creates animals, and livestock, but none of these serve as a companion for man himself. So as Adam is in a deep sleep, he takes out one of his ribs and from that he creates woman. Adam says, “this is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh, she shall be called “woman” for she was taken out of man.” The Bible goes on to say that man is united to wife, and they become one flesh. Next, the serpent approaches the woman, Eve, and asks if it is true that God told them not to eat out of any tree in the garden. Eve replies by saying that you must not eat from the tree of knowledge, and the serpent replies that she will not die. So, Eve approaches the tree, and after seeing that has desirable food, and knowing that it will give her knowledge, she takes some of the fruit off, eats it herself, and also convinces Adam to eat it too. When confronted by God, Adam replies “the woman you put here with me- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Eve says that the serpent deceived her, but God tells Eve that he will make the pains of childbirth severe, and that her husband will rule over her. He then banishes them from the Garden of Eden. As demonstrated in Genesis 2:4-3:24, Eve was literally born out of her husband, to bear his sins. Eve was the one who tempted and convinced Adam to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge, and caused them to be banished from the Garden of Eden. Here, Adam is seen as the ultimate victim of Eve’s wrong doing, even though we see that the serpent encouraged Eve. Here, Eve seen as a temptress, and her husband is seen as her victim. This also shows that the serpent easily manipulated Eve, causing her to appear weak. The Bible also highlights the fact that woman was born out of a man, and therefore forever indebted to him. Eve was born to be the scapegoat for man, taking the blame for his sin. Homer. "Book 19." The Iliad. N.p.: Doubleday, 1974. N. pag. Print. In Homer’s The Iliad, Ate is depicted as the daughter of Zeus. On the day that Zeus and his wife Hera were expecting the birth of their son Heracles, Ate used her influence over Zeus to make him take an oath made Zeus take an oath that the child born out of his linage on that day would “rule over all those dwelling about him.” (Iliad, Book 19). Hera then made her daughter, Eileithyia the goddess of childbirth, delay Heracles’ birth. As a result, Eurystheus therefor became the ruler, and Heracles was his subject. Zeus, feeling deceived, threw Ate down to earth, and forbade her from ever returning to Mount Olympus. On earth, Ate walked on the heads of men, and wrecked havoc on mortals. As shown, Zeus was deceived by three females in this myth. Ate is blamed for the fact that Zeus’s designated son, Heracles, was not made a great ruler. Ate is shown as weak enough to be thrown off of Mount Olympus by Zeus, but still is able to wreck havoc on men on earth. Ate is the goddess of strife, and typically in Greek mythology, God’s of strife or conflict are painted in a positive light, while Ate is seen as troublemaker and causing problems for even the most powerful of God’s, Zeus. She is seen as deceiving, and tempting, tricking Zeus into taking the oath. Here, Ate is seen as a scapegoat for man, being blamed for the fact that Heracles was not able to rule the way he was supposed to, and also being blamed for the misery that mankind experience. Hamilton, Edith, and Steele Savage. "The Fall of Troy." Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown, 1942. N. pag. Print. Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece. She had suitors from all over Greece, but from her suitors she chose Menelaus. They lived happily together for a while, but that would soon end. Paris, a prince of the city Troy, travelled to Sparta, after being promised by Aphrodite that he would get to be with Helen, the most beautiful women in the world. Aphrodite promised him this as a result of a contest that the goddess Ate delivered. When Menelaus was away, Helen went back to Troy with Paris. When Menelaus returned home and discovered Helen missing, he called to the leaders of Greece for help. They organized a great expedition to find Helen and set out for Troy. Their arrival at Troy is what marked the start of the Trojan War. During this war, Helen worked for both sides. At certain times she helped the Trojans and at others, she helped the Greeks. Paris died in war, and shortly after Helen married his brother Deiphobus. After the war, she was reunited with her first husband Menelaus, and together they killed Deiphobus and continued to be married happily. As the myth demonstrates, Helen is blamed for the Trojan War as a result of her helpless beauty. The story also highlights that Helen’s infidelity also sparked the Trojan War. Helen is seen as too helpless to say no to another man, and too beautiful for people to be able to turn her down and not pursue her even though she is married. Here, Helen is seen as a temptress, wrecking havoc around her simply by her looks. Similarly, the fact that Menelaus took her back after she had been unfaithful and wrecked havoc on a city, further exacerbates the point that Helen is irresistible and the ultimate temptation that Menelaus cannot turn down despite her infidelity. Instead of Menelaus and the Greek leaders that marched into Troy and killed people and destroyed the city, Helen is still seen as the one who started the war, when in reality there was conflict between the two cities to begin with. Here, Helen is clearly the scapegoat for the men who started the Trojan War. Decker, Jessica Elbert. "Hail Hera, Mother Of Monsters! Monstrosity As Emblem Of Sexual Sovereignty." Women's Studies 45.8 (2016): 743-757. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. Pandora is given to Epithemeus as punishment for the theft of fire. It becomes clear that Pandora is a trap, and that she is equally as alluring as she is deadly. This coincides with a common theme that exists in contemporary culture: the femme fatale. Pandora is given many gifts by the God’s during her creation, but her curiosity and the box she receives are the most dangerous. From this box, she lets loose ills and pains, placing blame on women for the suffering that exists in the world. The story of Pandora “allows for a male appropriation of the power of birth.” (Decker, 5). Pandora is the first woman to be born, and was an artifice of Zeus. Therefore, Zeus is the one responsible for her birth, and not nature and a woman’s body. This undermines “female generative power” (Decker, 5), making women an accessory to a greater plan designed by men. The story of Pandora fulfills the desire for men to control generation and birth, but here it comes with a price. Athena is the god of human birth, and when Zeus tries to take over this, he reveals a terrifying image of women, and produces a deadly Pandora. Pandora appears to fulfill male wishes, but results as an object of fear. Graves, Robert. "Pandora's Box And Eve's Apple." New Republic 135.7 (1956): 16-18. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. There exists create parallelism between the creation stories of Eve and Pandora. Both the birth’s of Pandora and Eve were planned and controlled by men, and ended up backfiring. Eve was created out of Adam’s rib, to keep him company. Pandora was generated by several God’s, given many positive qualities, but the gift of curiosity was a trap. Both Pandora and Eve are seen as curious and too weak to control their curiosity, resulting in Eve eating from the tree of knowledge and Pandora releasing suffering onto mortals. Both are seen as uncontrollable, easily tempted, sources of danger. However, with this weakness comes the power to control men. Pandora and Eve represent the notion of beautiful evil, creating the idea that women are this beautiful mystery that must be controlled by men. In the story of Adam and Eve, it is the serpent that tempts Eve to eat an apple, yet Eve is the one who is blamed. Similarly, Zeus is the one who gives Pandora the gift of curiosity, which prompts her to open the box, yet Pandora is the one who is blamed for introducing suffering to mankind. Both women are seen as responsible for releasing evil in the world. In both cases, men are seen as the one who was tempted and brought down by female, the victim, whereas Pandora and Eve are the scapegoat. Campbell, Charlie. "The Sexual Scapegoat." Scapegoat: A History of Blaming Other People. New York: Duckworth Overlook, 2011. N. pag. Print. According to Greek Mythology, men and Gods were able to live side by side, without pain, disease and misery until women came along. Pandora was only sent by Zeus as a punishment to men. She was given a large jar as a wedding gift, which she was told to never open. However, Pandora had been given curiosity by Zeus when she was created, and therefore decided to open the box. She attempted to encourage her husband to as well. By doing so, she introduced evil, disease and misery into the world. As a result, mankind was then forced to work, grow old, get sick, fight, and die. As Campbell says, this reinforces the original expression of feminine evil. Similarly, the goddess of strife, Ate, is also response for infatuation, mischief, and delusion. Ate was thought to have caused the initial beginning of the Trojan War by going to the wedding of Peleus uninvited. While at the wedding, she encouraged the goddess’s Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite to fight over a golden apple that was meant for “the fairest”. Each goddess promised something different in exchange for receiving the golden apple. Aphrodite promised the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. As a result, Helen fell in love with Paris, and the fled to Troy together. Similarly, Ate was also blamed for Achilles’s argument with Agamemnon, who blamed Ate for his infatuation with the girl he had stolen from Achilles. As the myth says, “Delusion, the eldest daughter of Zeus, the accursed, who deludes all and leads them astray…took my wife away from me. She has entangled others before me.” Next, the author then goes on to argue that after Pandora, Helen of Troy is the “focal point of Greek misogyny.” (Page 290) As a result of her beauty, Helen is blamed for the Trojan War, with the story saying her beauty provoked it. On another note, the stories in Greek mythology go hand in hand with the treatment of women in Greek society. The myths both highlighted and further exacerbate the epidemic of the fear of women in Greek society. In Ancient Greece, women had the legal status of children, and were not seen fit to witness legal matters. Women were confined to the house. As the Greek playwright Menander wrote “He who teaches letters to his wife is ill advised: he’s giving additional poison to a snake.” This part of the chapter helps to place the scapegoating of women seen in these myths in context with Greece at the time. As demonstrated by Campbell, in Greek mythology, female characters are always blamed when something goes wrong, or for deceiving and tempting men. In his first example, Pandora attempts to tempt and persuade her husband into opening the box, but when he refuses, and she does it alone. She is seen as a temptress, and her husband is seen as a victim. Pandora was sent to man as punishment, and is therefore the scapegoat for man, taking the blamed for all of the misery that mankind experience as a result of her inability to control her curiosity. Similarly, Ate is seen as a scapegoat for men, taking blame for Zeus’s son not reaching his full potential as a leader and for starting the Trojan War. Ate possesses qualities that many of the male god’s possesses, but in her, they are seen as negative and she is perceived as wreck less, and wrecks havoc on men. On another note, Helen of Troy is also blamed for starting the Trojan War as a result of her beauty. Her, she is seen as tempting, and a temptress for men as well. Instead of Menelaus or the Greek leaders who supported him, Helen is made into the scapegoat, being forced to take the blame. Glenn, Justin. “Pandora and Eve: Sex as the Root of All Evil.” The Classical World, vol. 71, no. 3, 1977, pp. 179–185. www.jstor.org/stable/4348824 The image of Pandora opening her box, and Eve eating and persuading Adam to eat the fruit are equivalent. Both Pandora and Eve are seen as weak, unable to control their inner curiosity. However, they are both seen as sources of danger, their innate wreck less curiosity posing a danger to the men around them. Both Pandora and Eve are portrayed as never being satisfied, always looking for something greater. It is this dissatisfaction and curiosity that lead them to be seen as responsible for releasing evil in the world. This can predict why the female sex is often seen as the root of all problems that we face. These two stories represent some of the first instances in which women are blamed for tempting men, when in reality it is not the woman’s fault. This idea that men are the victims of women is something that we see very often in our society, and perhaps this is the root of where victim blaming started.