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Pandora was one of literature's first conniving beauties. Yahoo! Reference notes that in Greek mythology, Pandora is considered the world's first woman. She was created in retribution for Prometheus' crime of stealing fire from the gods. Pandora was built to deceive. She bewitched and married a gullible man named Epimetheus (Greek for "Afterthought"), who was the brother of Prometheus (Greek for "Forethought"). Besides showering her with irresistible charm and beauty, the gods had given Pandora a box
(or a jar in some versions of the story) and instructed her not to open it. Eventually, her curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the container, unleashing all manner of evil and misery on the world. You can read all the lurid details of the incident at GreekMythology.com, one of the references in the Greek Mythology category of the Yahoo! Directory. No doubt about it -- the sexual politics of the Greeks were highly suspect. But the jar did have one positive thing that flew out into the world -- hope. A Pandora's box can refer to a gift that appears valuable,
but in fact will inflict no end of misery on its owner. New appliances and pets come to mind. To open a Pandora's box means to unwittingly unleash chaos on yourself and those around you.
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