Differences

There are many similarities between the ancient myth of Pandora and the Bible's writings of Eve. Both of these women are held responsible for bringing evils or sin into the world. But although there are many similarities there are also a number of differences. One difference is that Pandora was created for the sole purpose of bringing evil and suffering into the world as a punishment for mankind and Prometheus. Where as Eve was created as a companion, she had free will but was tempted and chose to eat the fruit. Pandora's personality and attributes were created in the image of imperfect goddesses with the purpose for deceit and destruction. Eve was created for good and in the image of a perfect God. But the main difference in these to stories is that in Hesiod's myth of Pandora, she lets all the misfortunes into the world but she contains hope in the jar. This means that hope cannot and does not exist, that people have no optimism. This myth also shows that Zeus is all powerful and that there is no real escaping the misfortunes poured out by Pandora. In the Bible's telling of the story of Eve, even though sin is brought into the world there is still hope. The spiritual separation or death that occurs due to Eve and Adam gaining the knowledge of good and evil can be removed through the blood of a sacrifice, with Jesus being the ultimate atonement for the sins for all mankind.