Poem: "Pandora's Quest"
Feb. 16th, 2020 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis is the freebie for the February 2020 ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from zianuray. It also fills the "Negative Self-Talk" square in my 2-1-20 card for the Valentines Bingo fest.
"Pandora's Quest"
It was Epimetheus,
grown suspicious of
gifts from the gods,
who opened the box.
It was Pandora who was
left to clean up the mess.
In the bottom of the box
she discovered Hope, who
fluttered up to roost on
her right shoulder in
the form of a dove.
Then Pandora left
her husband and went
out into the world to see
what she could do to right
the wrongs he had released.
The first she encountered
was Negative Self-Talk.
It scratched and bit at
her spirit, making her say
awful things to herself.
Then Hope pecked it
and drove it away, teaching
Pandora to say kind things
to herself as she would
to another person.
So they continued
on their quest to make
the world a better place.
From the goddesses,
Pandora had the gifts
of health, beauty, peace,
generosity, kindness,
wisdom, and curiosity.
With these she faced
the evils of the world
including greed, envy,
hatred, pain, disease,
hunger, poverty,
war, and death.
Pandora learned
that some of the evils
fed into each other, for
greed led to poverty and
hunger, envy led to pain
and hatred, war led to death,
and many things led to disease.
Some of her gifts directly opposed
certain evils, and she suspected that
the goddesses had subtly contrived
to undermine the gods' malice.
Health opposed pain, disease,
and death; peace opposed war;
generosity opposed greed, envy,
and hunger; kindness opposed
pain and hatred; and wisdom
opposed many of those.
Curiosity showed her
how to discover solutions
to all of those problems.
The first step, Pandora
realized, was to gain
allies in her quest.
Her first ally was
the goddess Hygieia,
who brought in her sisters
Iaso, Acesco, Aegle, and
Panacea. Together they
fought against pain,
disease, and death.
Pandora then turned
to the Horae for help.
Diké, Eunomia, and
Eirene joined forces
against hatred, and war.
Pherusa, Euporia, and
Orthosia helped Pandora
to fight poverty and hunger.
The next step was to share
her gifts with as many
people as possible, for
they would grow by
giving them away.
Pandora went among
the women and taught them
how to clean, how to cure,
how to make plenty, and
how to make peace.
Then the women
went to their men and
taught them likewise.
Pandora's curiosity
led her to discover
logic and the sciences,
which she also taught
to the women, who then
shared them with the men.
It was not enough to wipe out
all the harm done, but it was
enough to reduce the evils
to something bearable.
To this day, Pandora
walks the world with
the Dove of Hope on
her shoulder and
gifts in her hands.
Hear and heed her,
Goddess of a Better World
take up her work, and be blessed.
* * *
Notes:
The myth of "Pandora's Box" exists in various forms. The one related above comes from Terramagne-Greece.
Birds in general symbolize enlightenment and self-confidence. Doves represent hope.
The daughters of Asclepius are:
Hygieia (the goddess of cleanliness)
Iaso (the goddess of recuperation from illness)
Aceso (the goddess of the healing process)
Aegle (the goddess of good health)
Panacea (the goddess of universal remedy)
The Horae are goddesses of time and natural order:
Diké (Δίκη, the goddess of justice)
Eunomia (Εὐνομία, the goddess of order)
Eirene (Εἰρήνη, the goddess of peace)
Pherusa (the goddess of substance and farm estates)
Euporia (the goddess of abundance)
Orthosia (the goddess of prosperity)
crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from zianuray. It also fills the "Negative Self-Talk" square in my 2-1-20 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. "Pandora's Quest"
It was Epimetheus,
grown suspicious of
gifts from the gods,
who opened the box.
It was Pandora who was
left to clean up the mess.
In the bottom of the box
she discovered Hope, who
fluttered up to roost on
her right shoulder in
the form of a dove.
Then Pandora left
her husband and went
out into the world to see
what she could do to right
the wrongs he had released.
The first she encountered
was Negative Self-Talk.
It scratched and bit at
her spirit, making her say
awful things to herself.
Then Hope pecked it
and drove it away, teaching
Pandora to say kind things
to herself as she would
to another person.
So they continued
on their quest to make
the world a better place.
From the goddesses,
Pandora had the gifts
of health, beauty, peace,
generosity, kindness,
wisdom, and curiosity.
With these she faced
the evils of the world
including greed, envy,
hatred, pain, disease,
hunger, poverty,
war, and death.
Pandora learned
that some of the evils
fed into each other, for
greed led to poverty and
hunger, envy led to pain
and hatred, war led to death,
and many things led to disease.
Some of her gifts directly opposed
certain evils, and she suspected that
the goddesses had subtly contrived
to undermine the gods' malice.
Health opposed pain, disease,
and death; peace opposed war;
generosity opposed greed, envy,
and hunger; kindness opposed
pain and hatred; and wisdom
opposed many of those.
Curiosity showed her
how to discover solutions
to all of those problems.
The first step, Pandora
realized, was to gain
allies in her quest.
Her first ally was
the goddess Hygieia,
who brought in her sisters
Iaso, Acesco, Aegle, and
Panacea. Together they
fought against pain,
disease, and death.
Pandora then turned
to the Horae for help.
Diké, Eunomia, and
Eirene joined forces
against hatred, and war.
Pherusa, Euporia, and
Orthosia helped Pandora
to fight poverty and hunger.
The next step was to share
her gifts with as many
people as possible, for
they would grow by
giving them away.
Pandora went among
the women and taught them
how to clean, how to cure,
how to make plenty, and
how to make peace.
Then the women
went to their men and
taught them likewise.
Pandora's curiosity
led her to discover
logic and the sciences,
which she also taught
to the women, who then
shared them with the men.
It was not enough to wipe out
all the harm done, but it was
enough to reduce the evils
to something bearable.
To this day, Pandora
walks the world with
the Dove of Hope on
her shoulder and
gifts in her hands.
Hear and heed her,
Goddess of a Better World
take up her work, and be blessed.
* * *
Notes:
The myth of "Pandora's Box" exists in various forms. The one related above comes from Terramagne-Greece.
Birds in general symbolize enlightenment and self-confidence. Doves represent hope.
The daughters of Asclepius are:
Hygieia (the goddess of cleanliness)
Iaso (the goddess of recuperation from illness)
Aceso (the goddess of the healing process)
Aegle (the goddess of good health)
Panacea (the goddess of universal remedy)
The Horae are goddesses of time and natural order:
Diké (Δίκη, the goddess of justice)
Eunomia (Εὐνομία, the goddess of order)
Eirene (Εἰρήνη, the goddess of peace)
Pherusa (the goddess of substance and farm estates)
Euporia (the goddess of abundance)
Orthosia (the goddess of prosperity)
(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-17 02:08 am (UTC)...
Pandora as one of the demigods/gods. Yes, I like. :)
-T~
Thank you!
Date: 2020-02-17 02:29 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-17 05:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-17 02:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-02-19 09:01 pm (UTC)