Part I: Consider gender roles as they exist in the Greek creation myth. How do men versus women tend to behave or act? What powers or abilities do males or females tend to have? Finally, what roles do men versus women hold? What does all of these above indicate about gender roles in Greek culture?
Within the Greek account of creation, both masculine and feminine deities are bestowed with creative abilities. The bird, Nyx, which laid the egg that contained Eros is described as a she. The shell of that egg went on to become Uranus, the sky, and Gaia, the earth, who then fell in love (Hesiod, 2-4). The two had many children who went on to beget more children. Eventually, Zeus told Prometheus and Epimetheus to create man and the animals, respectively (Hesiod, 12). Both Prometheus and Epimetheus are described as masculine and they are both endowed with the ability to create. They are charged with creating man and the animals and then giving their creations gifts. When the gifts run out, Prometheus decides to give man the gift of fire despite the fact that only gods are allowed access to the element (Hesiod, 14). As punishment, Prometheus is tied to a mountain to have his eyes pecked out for eternity and woman is created as punishment for mankind. The woman, Pandora, is described as beautiful and given to Epimetheus as a wife. The various gods and goddesses give Pandora a gift. Zeus, in particular, gives Pandora both curiosity and a box she is never to open. She can’t help herself and opens the box, unleashing all the horrors and evils which plague the world (Hesiod, 14-17).
In this particular telling of the creation myth, there are certainly shared traits between the masculine and feminine characters: they can be creative, tricky, and exact punishment. The anecdote about Pandora, however, makes a connection between women and the root of all worldly evil. This myth paints women as creatures who cannot overcome their own impulses and practice self-control. This suggests that Greeks thought there were certainly personal qualities and abilities shared between men and women, but that women were too bound by their emotions and impulses to be taken seriously.
Part II: Research a creation myth from another culture/faith. Do you see any similarities between your creation myth and the Greek creation story? If so, what do you think these similarities might indicate?
There are very clear similarities between the Greek mythology story and that found in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The creation story found in the Book of Genesis features far fewer gods, but does discuss the creation of the first man and woman and the havoc that ensues following their creation. In both stories, the first man and woman are created, in that order, by a deity and they are given gifts. Whereas in the Greek creation myth the gifts are fire and Pandora’s box, the Genesis story features the Tree of Knowledge. Like Pandora and her box, the first woman, Eve, is forbidden from eating the fruit of the tree. And like Pandora, Eve disobeys. While the evils of Pandora’s box are unleashed on the world she already inhabits, Eve and the first man, Adam, are cast out of their beautiful home in the Garden of Eden to the harsh world outside of the garden. Further, Eve is burdened with pain in childbirth—something all women after her are bound to experience (Genesis 1-3).
It is clear both creation myths are intended to describe, in part, differences between men and women and assign blame for all the awful things in the world to women. If one were to view both myths as exaggerations intended to illustrate a truth, women in both stories are recklessly impulsive and pose a danger to mankind. It is no secret that, traditionally and historically, many people have viewed women, at best, as very different from men and, at worst, as inferior. This shared theme reveals the notion that both Greeks and the Semitic people of the Near East thought of women as less than and in need of close attention. It’s no surprise that these views were shared between Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures, given their proximity and (likely) shared trade routes. Much like the connections between Noah’s flood story and the Epic of Gilgamesh, these shared literary themes regarding gender and feminine inferiority are probably the result of generations of cultural mingling.
- Hesiod, and Richard S. Caldwell. Hesiod’s Theogony. Cambridge, Ma: Focus Information Group, 1987. https://msu.edu/~tyrrell/theogon.pdf.
- Meeks, Wayne A, and Jouette M. Bassler. The HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version, with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. HarperCollins, 1993.
