Art Inspiration:The Gift From The Gods; Pandora: Box/Jar/Urn

In my life I have had moments that inspire me to create and wonder about different possibilities. Working with children has always been a catalyst for these moments. On a number of occasions I have provided a drawing or art class for the children and their curiosity has inspired many ideas and creations. Some of these inspirations have produced scenes of me drawing them camping, or as characters from Harry Potter, but the majority of them enjoyed me creating a scene based on the Greek gods. I have posted this work so titled “The Greek Gods, Distraction on Olympus”.

This experience was so enjoyable that I have been thinking of creating another scene from Greek Mythology for some time. In the next few weeks I will be posting the different characters of this scene and a little background info on each one.

I must emphasize that this drawing is not for the children in my school but an independent work I undertook for my own enjoyment. It is from my imagination and may be a bit adult.

 

Jar/Box/ Urn

 

What would the story of Pandora be without the box? The interesting thing is that the original story of Pandora did not have a box but a storage jar or pithos. In the jar held all the evils or evil spirits of the world as well as one other thing. The jar was given to Pandora and her husband Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus.

Where Prometheus’s name meant ‘forethought’ Epimetheus meant ‘afterthought’. Prometheus warns his bother not to accept the gift of Pandora because he can fore-see trouble, but Epimetheus does not heed his bother’s warning.  She carries with her a jar, a gift to them from Zeus, yet she is told not to open it. Of course when someone is told not to do something they inevitably do that thing. She opens the lid and releases the evils and plagues onto the earth, but holds back hope that is still in the control of humans.

I drew the jar as a Greek urn with two handles. On it I drew the usual patterns around the urn but I added an eagle to the top centre of the neck of the urn to represent Zeus. Zeus is commonly portrayed as an eagle and so I wanted to show his influence. On the centre I redrew Pandora in her similar stance as I drew her but with her eyes closed. If you did not notice the eagle, I made sure you noticed the Zeus influence with the twin lightning bolts flanking the image of Pandora. In the final rendering this urn/jar will be place in it in a prominent place, but you will have to wait and see where it is.

In the mean time I hope you enjoy my depiction of Pandora’s Box/Jar/Urn, from The Gift From The Gods; Pandora. 

Pandora’s Box/Jar/Urn