Pandora's box should be the more dreary and depressing." One's interpretation hangs on two related questions: First, how are we to render "elpis", the Greek word usually translated as "hope"? Second, does the jar preserve "Elpis" for men, or keep "Elpis" away from men? The first question might confuse the non-specialist. But as with most ancient Greek words, "elpis" can be translated a number of ways. A number of scholars prefer the neutral translation of "expectation." But expectation of what? Classical authors use the word "elpis" to mean "expectation of bad," as well as "expectation of good." Statistical analysis demonstrates that the
Pandora's box story has grown the idiom "to open (a) Pandora's box", meaning to do or start something that will cause many unforeseen problems. Its modern, more colloquial equivalent is "to open a can of worms". The word translated as "box" was actually a large jar (πίθος "pithos") in Greek. It was used for storage of wine, oil, grain or other provisions, or, ritually, as a container for a human body for burying, from which it was believed souls escaped and necessarily returned. Many scholars see a close analogy between Pandora herself, who was made from clay, and the clay jar which