4.6: The Biblical Analog to the Pandora Myth- Adam, Eve, and the Loss of Eden

The early Biblical authors were quite familiar with the myths of the Ancient Greeks; thus the parallels between Pandora and Eve are quite natural. Like the Greeks, Biblical authors also blamed the first woman for the loss of the idyllic Eden and the downfall of humanity, or the Golden Age of Man in the Greek version. John Milton’s Paradise Lost refers to the loss of Eden as “the Fortunate Fall,” inferring that the separation from Paradise and God’s grace, though tragic, was necessary to force humans out of adolescence and into full adulthood. The Bible’s version, however, lacks this philosophical statement, though the etiological insights are made plain: God’s three curses account for the acrimonious relationship between serpents and humans, the pains of childbirth, and men’s life of toil, not to mention the first marital spat.

The marital discord stems from the failure of the first woman to abide by God’s commandment: eat what you like, but not from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, like innocent and naive children, Adam and his wife aren’t told why they must not eat, only that they must obey. Milton emphasizes the importance of Free Will in their choice to disobey God, but the biblical text only offers the talking serpent, another parallel to primordial and Greek traditions which associate serpents with the Great Goddess and Gaea. The serpent finds her alone and tempts her to eat from the fruit, (which wasn’t identified as an apple, since apples weren’t native to the region where the biblical texts were written) claiming it would make her wise like God. Desirous of such knowledge–who wouldn’t be?–she falls for this slick sales technique and bites. Finding the fruit of knowledge delicious, not at all deadly, she gives it to Adam who eats without question or thought. Despite his willing participation, the weight of the transgression has historically fallen upon the woman, because, like the Greeks, the biblical authors believed women were not capable of reigning in their sexual charms and guile no matter how well-founded, innocent or ignorant their intentions. This social tenant removes culpability from Adam’s participation, just as the Greek version does with Epimetheus, leaving the woman to bear the complete weight of Original Sin.

The initial impact of the sin appears in the next line, “And the eyes of them both were opened,” inferring that they experienced a sexual awakening, one that comes with full knowledge of the divine. Like the opening of Pandora’s jar, the knowledge they receive encompasses all the good and evil of the universe and the emotional burden of instantaneous maturity it forces upon them. And like Zeus, God cannot brook the rebellion of his divine law so early into his reign, and must make an example of the recalcitrant pair, providing a referential lesson for subsequent generations of humans.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): “Eve” marble sculpture by Rodan. In this demure, self-aware pose, Eve is depicted as a child-like young woman, hiding her shame and her sudden awareness of her naked vulnerability. National Museum of Art, Washington D.C. (CC BY-SA 4.0 International, Wikimedia)

Until the Fall, the first woman is unnamed. Like Pandora, who is unnamed in the Theogony, she only earns a name after the transgression, after the pair have cognition of their loss and their punishment, only then does Adam name her Eve, “mother of all.” Her prior nameless existence further aligns her with Pandora, who was programmed by the gods to be morally bereft, a character of no voice, no free will, no true autonomy, but instead only a vessel for Zeus' revenge against Prometheus' largesse. Though Eve speaks and acts seemingly of her own volition, she later argues that she was seduced by the serpent’s words, and thereby isn’t responsible for her actions. Determining whether this defense is plausible relies on the impetus of her own creation, as a suitable partner for the lonely Adam, a helpmate, a companion, but not a divinely inspired prodigy like Adam. Like Pandora, Eve is created to be a beautiful jar, useful to carry out what God or Zeus designs.