There was a time when mankind lived happily, without knowing sickness, pain and misery. However, in those days men had no fire, for the gods had taken it away from them.

Prometheus, condoled by the cold that mortals endured, stole the seed of fire from the wheel of the sun and took it to the earth, hidden inside a reed, which even some men use to light fires.

When Hephaestus finished his work, Zeus asked the Olympian gods to give him the necessary gifts so that humans could not refuse his requests. First of all, he commissioned the goddess Athena to cover her with the most beautiful garments.

The three graces, goddesses of beauty and art, were in charge of adorning the new creature with the most delicate jewels, unknown to humans until then.

Three daughters of Zeus, called the hours, harvested in the gardens of Olympus the most colorful and aromatic flowers, with which they adorned the hair of the newly modeled woman.

Aphrodite, goddess of love, imprinted on that clay body her grace, giving it the beauty of the goddesses and the charm of the maidens.

The last gifts the sculpture received were cunning, curiosity and daring, conferred by Hermes, the messenger of the gods.

To complete the work, Zeus himself breathed life into the statue. Then, the gods gathered and decided to give her the name of Pandora, a word meaning "bearer of all gifts".

Zeus chose Prometheus as Pandora's husband, and as a wedding gift he sent a box decorated with beautiful figures. The father of the gods, who knew that curiosity is the cause of the greatest evils, said nothing about the contents of the box and warned that no one should find out.

Prometheus suspected that Zeus wanted revenge for stealing the fire from Olympus. So he refused the marriage and the gift, and advised all men not to receive any present from the gods.

Pandora, who was not only beautiful but also cunning, went to Epimetheus' house and offered him Zeus' gift. That woman was so charming that Epimetheus disobeyed his brother's advice and fell madly in love with the beautiful Pandora.

Finally Epimetheus married Pandora and proudly displayed the gift of the gods. However, he was willing to comply with Zeus' instruction not to look at the contents of the box. So he ordered Pandora not to go near it.

But as time went by, everyone's curiosity about the mysterious contents of the box grew. One day, Pandora approached the box and contemplated it for a long time. Taking advantage of an oversight, she decided to disregard the prohibition and open it.

Pandora opened the lid very carefully. In an instant all the evils in the world came out of it: that was Zeus' revenge. Epimetheus, noticing what had happened, ran to cover it; however, the damage had already been done.

Versión en español

Había una época en la que la humanidad vivía feliz, sin conocer la enfermedad, el dolor y la desdicha. Sin embargo, por aquellos días los hombres no tenían fuego, pues los dioses se lo habían quitado.

Prometeo, condolido por el frio que los mortales soportaban, hurto la semilla del fuego a la rueda del sol y la llevo a la tierra, escondida en el interior de una caña, que aun algunos hombres utilizan para encender hogueras.

Cuando Hefestos termino su obra, Zeus pidió a los dioses olímpicos darle los dones necesarios para que los humanos no pudiesen negarse a sus peticiones. En primer lugar, encargo a la diosa Atenea cubrirla con los más hermosos vestidos.

Las tres gracias, diosas de la belleza y el arte, fueron las encargadas de engalar a la nueva criatura con joyas delicadísimas, que hasta entonces los humanos no conocían.

Tres hijas de Zeus, llamadas las horas, cosecharon en los jardines del olimpo las más coloridas y aromáticas flores, con las que adornaron la cabellera de la mujer recién modelada.