What is the meaning of the phraseology "box of Pandora"?

Practically any people has such expressions, which carry a special meaning. They are used in suitable situations for a certain value. Of course, we are talking about phraseology. But in order to understand the meaning of this or that expression, one must have information about its source. As a rule, these statements have a beginning in any myth, fairy tale, legends or history. For example, the meaning of phraseology "box of Pandora" can be found in the ancient Greek legend.

The myth of a woman, "all gifted"

According to this legend, once people lived for a long time and had excellent health. On Earth was Paradise, and no one knew any ills. But Prometheus stole the fire from the Gods from the sacred Olympus and gave it to the people. For this angered Almighty decided to punish humanity and sent to Earth Pandora. Hera gave her cunning and craftiness, Athena gave her beautiful clothes, and Aphrodite made her indescribably beautiful. And Zeus supplied the girl with a casket, which in mythology is called the "box of Pandora." The meaning of this gift can be explained by the fact that the Gods still loved people and gave them a chance. However, the girl disobeyed Zeus and opened this casket. From it all troubles, illnesses, fears and hatred escaped, and at the bottom there was only hope at the behest of Zeus.

The meaning of the phraseology "box of Pandora"

This expression, as can be seen from the above brief summary of the myth, bears the meaning of "the source of misfortunes and troubles." That is, you can not do things that can lead to knowingly bad consequences. This statement has become firmly established in many languages, and this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that there is a strongly related significance here. That is, the name of Pandor refers only to mythology, this combination is not found anywhere else and has only one meaning.

The use of expression

The meaning of the phraseology "box of Pandora" was used only in New time. Interestingly, earlier the name of the girl (the character of the drama Sophocles) was mentioned as a nominal noun, which was called doll-mannequins for demonstration of clothes in fashion shows in the 17th century.

This story became very popular in our time. Thus, the famous French essayist J. K. Bayi created and presented in his interpretation the drama "Pandora" in 1992. Also this name can be found in the works of talented writers of the Soviet period of the Strugatsky brothers, in particular in the cycle of works, a representative book among which is "Noon, 22 century". Here the name of Pandora is a planet covered with thickets of the jungle, where various dangerous creatures dwell (rakopauki, tachhorga and others).

Also the meaning of phraseology "Pandora's box" is used in Hollywood adaptations, for example "Lara Croft. Tomb Raider "in the series" Cradle of Life "this element is applied, which is one of the main artifacts. Often the mythological pattern is present in the film adaptation of the heroes, for example, in the series about the queen of soldiers Xena. There appears a fictional character - the granddaughter of Pandora with a casket.

In addition to using this expression in fantasy and realistic works, it can also be found in everyday life. The name of Pandora is a small asteroid and satellite of the planet Saturn (discovered in 1980). Also, a virus was discovered in 2013, with a huge number of gene sets (over 2000). He was found on the coast of Chile and in some waters of Australia. A group of scientists from France, who discovered this "find", dubbed it "Pandora's box".

Here we examined what the "Pandora's box" means, and also gave examples of the use of this expression in real life and literary works. This phraseology is very popular, since none of the other similar statements do not reflect the meaning of any situation with negative consequences.