2017-05-23 Tue

This is one more 60 cents Greece Stamp of Pandora published in 2014 depicting the Pandora box that said it all.

It all started when Prometheus presented a gift that looked so appealing but was in fact just bones presented in a tempting manner to Zeus. Outraged, he ordered Hephaestus to create a beautiful woman that no God or man could resist. And thus Pandora was born.

She was then given gifts from all the Olympian gods. Among them, Goddess Hera gifted her ‘curiosity’. She was then presented to Epimetheus, Prometheus' half-brother. Prometheus had already warned Epimetheus to avoid accepting any gifts from Zeus as he knew Zeus was still seeking revenge from him. But he paid no heed. Epimetheus soon feel in love with Pandora, got married to her and were leading a happy married life; but the thought of what was inside the box never left Pandora.

She kept reminding herself that she had vowed never to open the box. One day, unable to take it anymore, she decided to have just a brief look inside. She fit a golden key hanging around her neck to the lock on the box. She unlocked the box and lifted the lid only for a while. Before she knew it, there was a hissing sound and a horrible odor permeated the air around her. Terrified, she slammed the lid down but it was too late.

Pandora had released all the wickedness and malevolence that Zeus had locked into the box; things that would plague man forever: sickness, death, turmoil, strife, jealousy, hatred, famine, passion... everywhere the evil spread. Pandora felt the weight of the world on her shoulders and looked at the gilded box that had turned rusty and hideous.

As if sensing her need, a warm and calming feeling shrouded her and she knew that not all was lost. Unknown to her, along with the evil feelings, she had also revealed hope, the only good thing that Zeus had trapped inside the box. From now on, hope would live with man forever, to give him succor just when he felt that everything was coming to an end.

There are a few other Greek tragic love stories like Orpheus and Eurydice , Helen and Paris, Hades and Persephone, NarcissusPygmalion and Galatea in this stamp collection. Have you read it yet?