The Origin of Hope (Was Re: Pullman is Lockhart)

[Susan Atherton]

No: HPFGUIDX 60457

joanne0012 wrote:
IIRC, Hope was the last michievous sprite to emerge from Pandora's box 
when it was opened.  Which says a lot about the ancients' opinion of it; 
itdoesn't look like they considered it a strength or virtue, but rather focused on 
its power to enable people to deceive themselves endlessly in the face of the 
facts.

I add:
I'm so not following your thread, but that caught my eye as I scrolled through my faithful digest. Just to stick my oar in, Hope did emerge from Pandora's Box, but it was not another of the sprites.

I'd explain how Pandora got the box, but it's not strictly relevant. Basically one of the gods was wandering past and left it with Pandora and her husband. Pandora opened the box because she heard voices whispering to her, begging her to set them free. When she did, brown moths flew out, and where they touched Pandora, they caused her pain and unhappiness. She slammed the box shut, but it was too late.They flew outside and touched her friends before flying off into the world. Pandora bitterly regretted opening the box and ruining the Eden she and her peers had lived in (although in Greek mythology it was the whole world, not just a little garden, oh no!!). She was crying and rubbing her wounds in pain when she heard another voice, higher and sweeter than the others, beseeching her to open the box again. She figured what the hell (oops, slipped out of myth speak for a second) and opened the box again. Out flew a single large white moth. "My name is Hope," said the moth, before brushing against Pandora's wounds with her wings. They were soothed instantly. Hope flew out into the world to try and catch up to the bad moths, but since there's only one of her and a bunch of them, it takes her time to get around and heal the wounds they have inflicted.

Or at least that's how it went in the book of myths I read as a kid. Each of the brown moths represented a different- I want to say sin, but it's not quite right. They're anything from Pain to Sadness to Envy to whatever. Hope was definitely seen as a good thing - she tried to save Pandora and her friends, but Pandora was a moron, so it was difficult.

Susan
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