“Yeah,” Paris agrees. “How many times was the story told or written and rewritten in that time?”
“I’m not saying otherwise,” Dr. Minthe tells him. “I’m just asking why the base of the story remains pretty much the same, but those seven things change.”
“Because they reflect the values of the people telling the story.” The answer suddenly comes to me. “If these are supposed to be the seven biggest evils let into the world, while hope remains trapped in the box because Pandora closed the lid, those evils are going to be determined by the society in which the storyteller lives.”
“Exactly.” Dr. Minthe grins at me. “Which is why, overtime, the evils have been represented as different things. Sometimes it’s things like disease, violence, death, madness, and sorrow that come out of the box—things that plague society. Other times, it’s more a list of the dark side of human nature—jealousy, anger, greed, sloth, things like that. And still other versions say dark and terrible creatures came out to torment humanity and make our lives as miserable as possible.” He pauses for a moment, looks every single one of us in the eyes before continuing. “So my question to you remains the same. Why do the things change depending on who’s telling the story? What influences what those things are?”
“What people are most afraid of at the time. Whatever it is—monsters, themselves, outside forces that hurt them. That’s what comes out of the box,” I tell him.
“Exactly, Penelope.” He points a finger at me. “That is exactly right.”
“So how do we know what’s true about a myth?” Paris asks. “How do we know what to believe?”
“Another really good question,” Dr. Minthe tells him. “Does anyone want to work through it?”
“I think you have to look at what doesn’t change.” Arjun speaks up for the first time. “What stays constant in the myth.”
“I don’t know.” Dr. Minthe raises a brow. “You tell me what stays constant in the myth.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“I know, but let’s do that anyway. If we’re going to studythe myth this year, we need to have a baseline about what we’re studying. So what part of the myth doesn’t change?”
“I don’t know much about the myth except that Pandora opens a box filled with bad stuff,” Arjun admits.
“Me neither,” Sullivan agrees. “Isn’t that the important part?”
“How do you know what’s important until you look at everything?” Dr. Minthe counters.
“Two Titans were charged with making all the creatures of the earth,” I tell him. “Epimetheus and Prometheus. They were brothers.”
“Epimetheus made all the animals and fish and bugs,” Rhea adds. “While Prometheus spent a long time creating man.”
“So long that Epimetheus gave away all the gifts Zeus had given them to bestow on the creatures of the earth.” I’ve read the myth a hundred times, and this part always amazes me—and makes me sad. “But Prometheus wanted something to give man. Since his brother had used all the gifts, he stole fire from the gods and gave it to us. And that’s why he was punished by being chained to a rock so that an eagle could eat his liver every day.”
Agatha, who has been perched on the top of the arts building since class began, lets out a long, high-pitched chirp that sounds surprisingly like a wail. It sends a shard of ice right through me. Apparently, she wasn’t any happier with Prometheus’s punishment than he was—or hers, now that I think about it. Imagine being forced to eat a man’s liver dayafter day after day for what feels like eternity, just because Zeus demands it of you.
The thought creeps me out, but it also makes me feel something I can’t quite identify. It’s like it’s floating around at the edges of my mind, but it’s still just out of reach.
“Wait a minute. He was tortured for eternity—” Sullivan starts.
“Maybe not,” Dr. Minthe corrects. “Eternity hasn’t happened yet, after all.”
“Okay, fine. He was punished for a really long time for doing something kind?” Sullivan sounds disgusted. “That really stinks.”
“You might want to hold on to all that righteous outrage,” Dr. Minthe tells him. “That’s just the backstory for Pandora’s myth.”
“You mean it gets worse?” Rhea’s brother, Atlas, speaks up.
“When we’re dealing with Zeus and the Titans, it always gets worse.” Dr. Minthe inclines his head as he looks between Atlas and his sisters. “I would think three people named after the Titans would know that better than most.”
“So what did Zeus do to him?” Arjun asks.
“Zeus had Pandora created out of clay because he was angry at Prometheus—” I start.
“He had her created?” Now it’s Paris’s turn to look surprised. “Who created her?”
“I don’t know.” I turn to Dr. Minthe, a little shocked that I’ve never thought to ask that before. “Whodidcreate Pandora?”
