The story in brief
Before the gods were good, they were family. A son overthrows his father, a father swallows his children, and a grandson wins a ten-year war for the sky. Then a Titan who likes humans steals fire for them, and Zeus answers with a gift: a woman and a jar. It was never a box.
The chapters
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Chapter 1 · 5 min · Free
Out of Chaos
Before the gods were good, they were family. And the family started badly.
Sources: Hesiod, Theogony 22–35, 116–210; Homer, Iliad 5.370–371
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Chapter 2 · 5 min · Free
The Stone in the Blanket
A father swallows his children, one by one. Their mother hands him a stone.
Sources: Hesiod, Theogony 453–506; Apollodorus 1.1.5–1.2.1; Pausanias 10.24.6
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Chapter 3 · 5 min
War for the Sky
Two mountains, ten years of war, and a weapon forged by one-eyed giants.
Sources: Hesiod, Theogony 617–735; Apollodorus 1.2.1–5; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 199–223
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Chapter 4 · 5 min
Fire in a Fennel Stalk
Two tricks, a stolen fire, and the most famous jar in the world. It was never a box.
Sources: Hesiod, Theogony 535–616; Hesiod, Works and Days 42–105
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Chapter 5 · 5 min
Chained to the Mountain
A Titan nailed to a cliff, a secret that could topple Zeus, and a flood that wipes the world clean.
Sources: Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound; Hesiod, Theogony 517–534; Apollodorus 1.7.1–2, 3.13.5; Ovid, Metamorphoses 1
Who’s who
The people you meet. Each one is a hero card you can collect.
- GaiaEarth · Mother of Titans · First of the Gods
- KronosKing of the Titans · The Sickle-bearer · Saturn to the Romans
- ZeusKing of the Gods · Thunderer · Jupiter to the Romans
- PandoraThe First Woman · All Gifts · Keeper of the Jar
- AtlasTitan · Bearer of the Sky · Brother of Prometheus
- PrometheusTitan · Forethought · Fire-thief
What you’ll be able to tell
This story belongs to the journey “Gods of Olympus”. By the end of it, you can tell why Pandora’s box was really a jar, and why the Midas touch was a curse.
Stories in this journey
- Prometheus: The Stolen Fire
- The Midas Touch: Tales Ovid Told
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Days
- Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound
- Apollodorus 1.1–1.7
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 1
