The story of Prometheus and his punishment by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods leads to the story of Pandora and her box.
The video
7: Prometheus and Pandora
Zeus told the Titan Gods Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus to fill the Earth with life.
Together they created all the animals that live on Earth.
Zeus then told Prometheus to create a being that could understand language and could speak.
Prometheus moulded men, only men, out of clay, and made them look like the gods. He wanted them to be able to cook and keep warm. For which they’d need fire. But Zeus told Prometheus that, under no circumstances was he to give the men fire, because with fire they might be able to challenge the gods.
But Prometheus was determined to help his creation. So he stole fire from the gods and gave it to men.
Zeus was furious! He chained Prometheus to a mountain. Every day an eagle would swoop down and gnaw at his liver and every night he would recover. The pain was endless.
But Zeus didn’t stop there.
He commanded Hephaestus, the God of fire and sculpture, to create the first woman. Zeus said she should be charming, beautiful and filled with curiosity about all things. He named her Pandora.
Everyone who met Pandora fell in love with her. And Epimetheus, Prometheus’ brother, was no different.
Zeus agreed to let them be married and live on Earth. He gave Pandora a gift of a box. He told her she must never, ever open it.
Epimetheus and Pandora lived a happy life on Earth. But no matter what, Pandora couldn’t stop thinking about the box and what might be inside.
One day her curiosity got the better of her, and she opened it.
Big mistake. Many things swarmed out of the box: disease, hunger, disasters and hate flew into the world.
Pandora slammed the box shut, stopping one tiny thing from escaping: hope. So even though the world was now filled with pain and suffering, humans would always have hope to comfort them.
Prometheus and Pandora
Please note that the animation includes depictions of violence from Greek mythology. We advise watching before sharing with your class.
Synopsis
The animation combines two well-known Ancient Greek myths. It begins with Prometheus, who along with his brother - Epimetheus - is charged by Zeus with populating the world. Prometheus creates the first humans - men only - but he wants them to be warm so he goes against Zeus's warning and steals fire from the gods. Zeus punishes Prometheus by chaining him to a rock, to be attacked every day by a huge eagle . But Zeus goes further. He orders Hephaestus to mould the first woman - Pandora - and demands that she be curious about all things.
Epimetheus falls in love with Pandora and Zeus allows them to live on Earth and be married. Zeus gives Pandora a box and tells her never to open it. But Pandora is curious and one day she opens the box… and cruelty, hatred and despair escape into the world. Pandora slams the box shut but only one thing remains… hope.
Teacher Notes
Taken from the complete Teacher Notes. See Resources.
Before watching the video
What do children remember of Zeus? What is his background and what impression do they have of him? What did they learn about the Titans in the previous film?
After watching the video
- Playing God. Prometheus and Epimetheus were asked to create creatures with which to fill the Earth. What kind of creatures would pupils create? Task them with drawing and labelling a new life form. They should consider its habitat, lifestyle and eating habits and how this will affect its appearance and features. A template is provided for this task.
- Fire! Prometheus wanted to give humans fire. Why is fire so important? Challenge pairs to come up with as many uses as possible in two minutes and to list them on whiteboards. After two minutes, go to each pair in turn for an idea. Pairs score a point for each correct answer and two points if they have come up with an answer that no other pair has suggested.
- Dear Diary. Pandora’s actions had a devastating effect on the earth. Ask children to take the role of Pandora and write two diary entries: one before she opens the box and one afterwards. What drives her to defy Zeus? How does she feel afterwards?
- Pandora’s box. What would children put in a box like Pandora’s? Using the worksheet provided, ask them to choose five items, habits or concepts they would treasure and five they would like to get rid of forever. They will have to give reasons!
- Room 101. Ask children to choose one item/concept/habit from the list of ‘horrors’ they made in the previous activity and to make a case to the class for getting rid of it forever. As the teacher, you get to choose five to condemn forever based on the children’s arguments.
Resources - Teacher Notes from Teachit
Ancient Greek myths. document
Comprehensive Teacher Notes covering episodes 6 to 10, including worksheets and activities.
Comprehension questions. document
Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).
Treasures and horrors. document
Click to display the worksheet full-size or print it (taken from the Teacher Notes).
The Teacher Notes for this series have been prepared in partnership with Teachit.
Other resources
Episode illustrated transcript
BBC Teach: Tales from Ancient Greece - audio versions of more popular Ancient Greek myths
