Pandora's Box: Is "Hope" the Answer or a Part of the Problem?

This summer I’ve gotten to sink into some great listening with a podcast club that I have been hosting. And one of the episodes that we listened to really has got me revisiting a story from Greek mythology – that of Pandora and her box!*

You know it I’m sure…the one where the Gods create the first mortal woman “Pandora” and send her to the world of men to stir shit up! Zeus gives her a box and tells her to take it with her but to never ever open the box. Well, she’s also been endowed with the entire force behind evolution…that great questing force of CURIOUSITY…and so she just can’t not open that box!

What’s in the box? All of the “evils” of the world of course. She opens the box one bored day and out flies all of the various forms of suffering that would henceforth be inflicted upon humanity for all of the rest of time – war, plague, famine, despair, etc etc etc.

But wouldn’t you know it, there at the very bottom of the box, one seeming gift – that of “hope”.

---

In the ways that I have known this story in the past, this seemed like a good thing. Hope was the thing the Gods gave us to keep us going when all seems lost. And certainly hope does serve that very important purpose. If our ancestors didn’t have hope I am sure that many of us wouldn’t be here! Against insurmountable odds, it is hope that really can keep a person putting one foot in front of the other.

But what these podcasters presented is the idea that hope may also be another “evil”. That hope is the thing that people use to shirk responsibility, to avoid using care and thought and foresight. To just act without proper foresight, assure ourselves that we are doing the right thing but secretly cross the fingers and “hope” for the best.

Of course, it isn’t the thing itself that is the problem it is how we use it.

Without a doubt right now we all need to keep hope alive in our hearts. There is A LOT of uncertainty in our world right now. The formerly great padded layers of safety created by personal identity, systemic stability, and planetary continuity are wearing very, very thin. This collective journey of ours feels more and more harrowing all the time. We don’t really have a map, we don’t really know where the storm that is pouring out of Pandora’s box is going to take us.
So we need hope, for sure.

BUT, taking irresponsible action and “hoping for the best” is also a part of what has gotten us here, and is a luxury that we can no longer afford.  So, what is the answer? How can we use hope as the gift that it could be…to get us through tough times without creating added harm? What is the answer?

And then I come across these dozen words of wisdom:

"There is no knowing FOR A FACT. The only dependable things are humility and looking." (P. 127 in "The Overstory" by Richard Powers)

So, the answer is...I don’t know, but perhaps that is part of the answer. Maybe I just need to have the humility to not know and the courage to keep looking. Because if Pandora was sent on behalf of the gods to open this box (PS…they knew she would), then maybe there is some kind of divine knowing behind the chaos unleashed. 
​
And with that I find myself thinking…wow…I hope so.

---

*A special thanks to the other members of this summer's podcast club for all the great convos and insights! Podcast details: "Promethean Inflation: Will our creation destroy us?" from This Jungian Life Podcast (https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Xj0y8yPDU14qQyVg73sA8?si=8aadabce954943ad)