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The myth of Pandora's box - Iseult Gillespie

  • 0:07 - 0:08
    Curiosity:
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    a blessing, or a curse?
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    The paradoxical nature of this trait
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    was personified for the ancient Greeks
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    in the mythical figure of Pandora.
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    According to legend,
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    she was the first mortal woman,
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    whose blazing curiosity set a chain
    of earth-shattering events in motion.
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    Pandora was breathed into being
    by Hephaestus, God of fire,
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    who enlisted the help of his divine
    companions to make her extraordinary.
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    From Aphrodite she received the capacity
    for deep emotion;
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    from Hermes she gained
    mastery over language.
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    Athena gave the gift of fine craftsmanship
    and attention to detail,
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    and Hermes gave her her name.
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    Finally, Zeus bestowed
    two gifts on Pandora.
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    The first was the trait of curiosity,
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    which settled in her spirit and sent
    her eagerly out into the world.
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    The second was a heavy box, ornately
    curved, heavy to hold –
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    and screwed tightly shut.
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    But the contents, Zeus told her,
    were not for mortal eyes.
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    She was not to open the box
    under any circumstance.
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    On earth, Pandora met and fell in love
    with Epimetheus, a talented titan
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    who had been given the task
    of designing the natural world by Zeus.
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    He had worked alongside
    his brother Prometheus,
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    who created the first humans
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    but was eternally punished
    for giving them fire.
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    Epimetheus missed his brother desperately,
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    but in Pandora he found another
    fiery-hearted soul for companionship.
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    Pandora brimmed with excitement
    at life on earth.
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    She was also easily distracted
    and could be impatient,
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    given her thirst for knowledge and desire
    to question her surroundings.
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    Often, her mind wandered to the contents
    of the sealed box.
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    What treasure was so great it could never
    be seen by human eyes,
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    and why was it in her care?
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    Her fingers itched to pry it open.
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    Sometimes she was convinced
    she heard voices whispering
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    and the contents rattling around inside,
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    as if straining to be free.
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    Its enigma became maddening.
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    Over time, Pandora became more and more
    obsessed with the box.
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    It seemed there was a force beyond her
    control that drew her to the contents,
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    which echoed her name louder and louder.
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    One day she could bear it no longer.
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    Stealing away from Epimetheus,
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    she stared at the mystifying box.
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    She’d take one glance inside,
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    then be able to rid
    her mind of it forever...
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    But at the first crack of the lid,
    the box burst open.
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    Monstrous creatures and horrendous sounds
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    rushed out in a cloud of smoke and swirled
    around her, screeching and cackling.
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    Filled with terror,
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    Pandora clawed desperately at the air
    to direct them back into their prison.
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    But the creatures surged out
    in a gruesome cloud.
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    She felt a wave of foreboding
    as they billowed away.
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    Zeus had used the box as a vessel
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    for all the forces of evil
    and suffering he’d created –
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    and once released,
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    they were uncontainable.
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    As she wept,
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    Pandora became aware of a sound echoing
    from within the box.
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    This was not the eerie
    whispering of demons,
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    but a light tinkling that seemed
    to ease her anguish.
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    When she once again lifted
    the lid and peered in,
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    a warm beam of light rose out
    and fluttered away.
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    As she watched it flickering in the wake
    of the evil she’d unleashed,
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    Pandora’s pain was eased.
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    She knew that opening the box
    was irreversible –
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    but alongside the strife, she’d set hope
    forth to temper its effects.
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    Today, Pandora’s Box suggests
    the extreme consequences
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    of tampering with the unknown –
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    but Pandora’s burning curiosity also
    suggests the duality that lies
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    at the heart of human inquiry.
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    Are we bound to investigate everything
    we don’t know,
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    to mine the earth for more –
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    or are there some mysteries
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    that are better left unsolved?
Title:
The myth of Pandora's box - Iseult Gillespie
Speaker:
Iseult Gillespie
Description:

more » « less
Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TED-Ed
Duration:
03:49
Kayla Wolf edited English subtitles for The myth of Pandora's box Jan 15, 2019, 10:42 PM
Kayla Wolf approved English subtitles for The myth of Pandora's box Jan 11, 2019, 8:27 PM
Kayla Wolf accepted English subtitles for The myth of Pandora's box Jan 11, 2019, 8:27 PM
Kayla Wolf edited English subtitles for The myth of Pandora's box Jan 11, 2019, 8:27 PM
Tara Ahmadinejad edited English subtitles for The myth of Pandora's box Jan 10, 2019, 6:08 AM
Tara Ahmadinejad edited English subtitles for The myth of Pandora's box Jan 9, 2019, 6:32 AM

English subtitles

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