Greek Mythology: a Gift Can Be a Curse Essay Example

Natalie Boykoff Global Lit 1 12/12/10 9a Not All Gifts Are Good Why is there evil in the world? Why are there different seasons in the year? These questions came up a lot in Ancient Greek Mythology. The Greeks were searching for answers and the only way they could come up with an explanation was to create a myth that explained the unexplainable. In Greek Mythology the paradox, a gift can be a curse, consistently appears in the myths. Many people’s greatest strength is also their weakness which can lead to their downfall. Some curses are justified but most aren’t fair at all. In many cases, in myths, it’s better not to accept a gift because it can turn on you and make everything worse. For example, how Hercules’ strength is his gift, yet that is what kills his family. Another factor in Greek Myths is how women were never the heroes. They were often the ones who were cursed, for example Cassandra, Pandora, and Semele all had wonderful gifts such as the ability to foretell the future, a trait from every god, and the gift of Zeus himself, but they were used against them. In Greek Mythology, often times someone who received a gift would have to be careful because it could be turned into a curse and would lead to their downfall. One myth that shows the last message, a gift can be a curse, is the story of Pandora. Pandora was the first woman ever created to punish mankind; she was given a gift from every god making her the “gifted one”. One of Pandora’s traits, curiosity could not keep her away and she decided to open the box Zeus told her was forbidden. She had let all the terrors and evils into the world, leaving behind only hope. In this story, it is obvious that Pandora’s gift was to be as beautiful, smart, wise and strong as a god, even though she was still a human. She had everything she could want except the knowledge of what was