BYU President Kevin J Worthen cited the Pandora myth in his opening devotional to bolster students’ sense of hope in a season of trials. “This story [of Epimetheus and Pandora] – and the use of the term ‘Pandora’s box’ to refer to a multitude of problems and evils – is widely known today,” President Worthen said. “What is less well known is that, according to the earliest written record of the myth, there was one item in Pandora’s jar or box that did not escape. That item was hope.” (Worthen 8 Sept 2020) Worthen recapped traditional debate over the mythological retention of hope in Pandora’s vessel, but noted that humans are, in the myth, equipped with a gift that can become a catalyst effecting great change. Worthen encouraged his audience to develop hope that leads to faith, especially faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Coupled with Sister Peggy S. Worthen’s engaging sermon on the courage of Caleb, the advisor of Moses, both Worthens together exhibited a stunning merging of instruction that merges Pentateuch and Hesiod, Biblical and Classical for instruction out of the best books.
For classical sources of the Pandora myth, see OGCMA-online s.v. “Pandora“. There are links to the “one version of the story” cited by Worthen and others.
