Hello,
Don’t panic, but if you’re reading this then you’ve opened Pandora’s Jar… Yes, jar – I’d like to take this moment to express my appreciation for those scholars out there doing the gods’ work and correcting this common mistranslation. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who come up to me in the street simply to make some crude and inappropriate joke about the box.
If it’s not that, they’re asking me whether hope was trapped in the jar, or released along with everything else. At first these questions irked me as much as the box jokes, but over time I realised that what people were looking for wasn’t the inside scoop, but reassurance. I hated that I wasn’t able to give it to them, but I am no more au fait with the divine plan that led to all this than anyone else – clearly…
I already have to go through life knowing that I lifted the lid on all humanity’s worst nightmares, it’s horrible to be the cause of even more pain as I confess my ignorance to people. I can’t bear the disappointed looks on their faces any longer, so I have decided to take matters into my own hands.
I am settling the question once and for all and placing a message of hope inside this jar, and now you, whoever you may be, have taken it out. Hope has officially been set free. However, I think it might have been out here all along. After all, where did hope spring from in this story? The obvious answer is that it’s good publicity for the gods, proof that they are not entirely without mercy. But if that’s the angle they’re going for then wouldn’t we know for certain that hope had fluttered out of the jar with everything else? They wouldn’t want to leave room for doubt about their generosity.
To me, there is something extremely mortal about this gleam of hope. Someone, somewhere, heard the curiously terrible story of Pandora and decided that things couldn’t be as bad as all that. There must be something else, some catch, some twist, some glimmer of light. And that thought spread. So whether those hearing and telling my tale hope that everything will be alright, that we are not alone, not powerless, that the gods do care, or something wildly different, is up to them. What matters is that the hope always is and always was there. It belongs to us.
By putting this out into the world I hope to show people that hope isn’t some divine, intangible entity. While sometimes we do just find it, it is also something that we can create, curate and even grow. Every day that has passed since I opened that jar I have wished and prayed that I might find some way to make it up to – literally – everyone, but I never really believed it was possible. Writing this, acting on my hopes, I can finally imagine that it might be.
I hope that whoever is reading this shares my sentiments, but it occurs to me that you may be a sceptic. Perhaps you think it was me and not the gods who poured hope into the narrative to try to make myself look better and now I am doubling down on that idea. I have spent quite a bit of time trying to convince you that hope is a mortal concept after all… I can honestly promise you that I had nothing to do with it; even with its hopeful addition, my starring role in unleashing all of the world’s plagues and problems is not my favourite anecdote to share. Even if it was me, would that be so bad? My hypothetical attempt to mitigate the effects of my actions would still have put the idea of hope into people’s heads.
I’m starting to feel self-centred, I do know that not all hope is connected to me and my troubles. We all have our own hopes and dreams, big and small. If you are not already doing so, I hope that this letter inspires you to pursue yours, dear stranger, and that you might share this hopeful discovery with all those in your corner of the world.
Yours hopefully (and apologetically),
Pandora xxx
