Almost any nation has expressions that carry a special meaning. They are used in situations suitable for a certain value. Of course, we are talking about phraseological units. But in order to understand the meaning of this or that expression, you need to have information about its source. As a rule, these statements have a beginning in a myth, fairy tale, legend or story. For example, the meaning of phraseology “Pandora's box” can be found in ancient Greek legend.
The myth of a woman "gifted by all"
According to this legend, once people lived for a long time and had excellent health. There was Paradise on Earth, and no one knew any troubles. But Prometheus stole the fire from the Gods from the holy Olympus and gave it to the people. For this, the angry Almighty decided to punish humanity and sent Pandora to Earth. Hera gave her cunning and craftiness, Athena gave her beautiful clothes, and Aphrodite made her indescribably beautiful. And Zeus provided the girl with a casket, which in mythology has the name "Pandora's box." The significance 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. All troubles, illnesses, fears and hatred escaped from it, and only hope remained at the bottom at the behest of Zeus.
The meaning of phraseology "Pandora's box"
This expression, as can be seen from the above summary of the myth, carries the meaning of a "source of misfortune and misfortune." That is, you can’t do something that can lead to obviously bad consequences. This statement has been firmly entrenched in many languages, and this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that there is a strongly connected meaning. That is, the name Pandora refers only to mythology, this combination is not found anywhere else and carries only one meaning.
Using an expression
The meaning of phraseology "Pandora's box" began to be used only in modern times. It is interesting that earlier the name of the girl (the character of the drama Sophocles) was mentioned as a common noun, by which they called dummy dolls to demonstrate clothes at fashion shows in the 17th century.
This plot has become very popular in our time. Thus, the famous French essayist J. C. Bailly created and presented in his interpretation the drama “Pandora” in 1992. This name can also be found in the works of the talented writers of the Soviet period, the Strugatsky brothers, in particular in the series of works, a representative book among which is “Noon, 22 Century”. Here, the name Pandora is a planet covered with thickets of jungle, where various dangerous creatures live (Rakopauk, tahorgi 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 used, which is one of the main artifacts. Often a mythological model is present in the film adaptation of heroes, for example, in the series about the warrior queen Xena. There appears a fictional character - the granddaughter of Pandora with a casket.
In addition to using this expression in fantastic and realistic works, it can also be found in ordinary life. A small asteroid and satellite of the planet Saturn (discovered in 1980) is named after Pandora. A virus was also discovered in 2013, which has a huge number of sets of genes (over 2000). It was discovered on the coast of Chile and in some reservoirs of Australia. A group of scientists from France who discovered this “find” dubbed it the “Pandora's Box”.
Here we examined what “Pandora’s box” means, and also gave examples of the use of this expression in real life and literary works. This phraseologism is very popular, since none of the other such statements reflect the meaning of any situation with negative consequences.