Figure 21 Interior of black-figure Laconian cup by the Arkesilas Painter, showing Atlas (left) and the
punishment of Prometheus; diameter of cup 20.2 cm, ca. 565–550 BC. Vatican Museums, Museo
Gregoriano Etrusco, Inv. 16592.
Source: Photo © 2015 Photo Scala, Florence.
“Immediately the renowned Hephaestus followed the wishes of Zeus, the son of Cronus, and molded
a figure out of earth in the shape of a demure maiden. The steely-eyed goddess Athena dressed and
adorned her; the divine Graces and mistress Persuasion placed golden jewelry about her body; and
the fair-tressed Hours garlanded her with springtime flowers. In her heart Hermes the facilitator, the
slayer of Argus, fashioned falsehoods and seductive chatter and a devious nature, all through the
wishes of loud-thundering Zeus. And the spokesman of the gods gave her a voice, and he named this
woman Pandora, because of her endowment by all the gods who dwell on Olympus, a disaster for
bread-eating men.” (Hesiod, Works and Days 70–82)Hesiod’s account of Prometheus and Pandora is a myth of a sort that has particular significance for the
Greeks. A myth that is concerned, as this one is, with causes or origins is referred to as an aition, using a
Greek word that means “responsible (for a particular outcome).” An aition is a story, and the fundamental
characteristic of a story is that its outcome results in an intelligible fashion from the logic of the narrative.
Because it is a story, it gives the impression that the outcome has been satisfactorily accounted for. In this
case, Hesiod’s aition accounts for the fact that men and gods no longer feast together as resulting from
Prometheus’ trick and Zeus’ punishment of him. Not only do men no longer enjoy a life of ease, dining
with the gods, but men now have an extra mouth to feed. Life is especially hard now because of the
presence of woman who, according to Hesiod, is a drain on man’s resources but is an evil necessary for
the production of an heir to keep those meager resources within the family. In addition, the myth accounts
for why animal sacrifice takes the curious form it does, with humans consuming the edible portion of the
victim and burning the bones and the intestines on an altar, allegedly as a gift to the gods, who are
imagined as appreciating the fragrant fumes. The ritual of sacrifice memorializes Prometheus’ injustice
and his theft of fire. At the same time, the gift to the gods that sacrifice represents both compensates for
Prometheus’ injustice and appeases the gods in hopes of avoiding future punishment.
This aition is complemented by another myth that Hesiod recounts in the Works and Days, the story of the
generations of humans. According to this myth, which has numerous parallels in oriental tales and