Goddess of Curiosity

Pandora was perfect - almost! The gods had given her beauty, charm, and gracefulness. But along with these great gifts, Pandora was given curiosity. Not just a little curiosity. But enough curiosity so that she had to know everything about everything!

Before Pandora went to live in the world of people, the king of the gods gave her a box and told her never to open it. Never!

Pandora tried to obey. She stared at the box. She touched it with cool slender fingers. She tried locking it away in a cupboard. But her curiosity was too great.

"Just a peek!" she thought. "Just one peek."

She opened the box. . . .

That one peek was one peek too many. Out popped all the bad things of the world - greed, envy, gossip, meanness. . . and on and on.

Pandora did manage to close the box, leaving one thing inside - hope! And - so the story goes - even though people ever afterwards have suffered from the evils that escaped from Pandora's box, still, we have always kept hope - hope that things can become better.