Virtually any nation has suchexpressions that carry a special meaning. They are used in suitable situations for a particular value. Of course, we are talking about idioms. But to understand the meaning of an expression, you need to have information about its source. As a rule, these statements have a beginning in any myth, fairy tale, legends or history. For example, the meaning of the phraseologism "Pandora's Box" can be found in the ancient Greek legend.
The myth of the woman, "all gifted"
According to this legend, people used to live longand had excellent health. There was Paradise on Earth, and no one knew any troubles. But Prometheus stole fire from the Gods from the sacred Olympus and gave it to people. For this, the angry Supremes decided to punish humanity and sent Pandora to Earth. Hera gave her cunning and cunning, Athena gave her beautiful clothes, and Aphrodite made her indescribably beautiful. And Zeus supplied the girl with a casket, which in mythology has the name "Pandora's Box". The value of this gift can be explained by the fact that the gods loved people and gave them a chance. However, the girl disobeyed Zeus and opened this casket. All troubles, illnesses, fears and hatred escaped from him, and only hope remained at the bottom at the behest of Zeus.
The meaning of the phraseologism "Pandora's Box"
This expression, as can be seen from the abovebrief content of the myth, is the meaning of "the source of misfortune and misery." That is, it is impossible to do something that can entail deliberately bad consequences. This statement has been firmly established in many languages, and this phenomenon can be explained by the fact that there is a strongly related meaning here. That is, the name Pandora refers only to mythology, this combination is not found anywhere else and carries only one meaning.
Use of expression
The meaning of the phraseologism "Pandora's Box" has becomeused only in New time. It is interesting that earlier the name of the girl (the character of the drama Sophocles) was mentioned as a common noun, which was called doll-dummies for displaying clothes at fashion shows in the 17th century.
Этот сюжет стал очень популярен в наше время.Thus, the famous French essayist J.C. Bayi created and presented in his interpretation the drama “Pandora” in 1992. This name can also be found in the works of talented writers of the Soviet period of the Strugatsky brothers, in particular in the cycle of works, the representative book among which is “Noon, 22nd Century”. Here the name Pandora is the planet covered with jungle thickets, where various dangerous creatures dwell (rakopauki, tahororg and others).
Also the meaning of the phraseology "Pandora's Box"used in Hollywood films, for example “Lara Croft. The Tomb Raider "in the series" The Cradle of Life "applies this element, which is one of the main artifacts. Often the mythological pattern is present in the film about the heroes, for example in the series about the Queen of Warriors Xena. There appears a fictional character - Pandora's granddaughter with a casket.
In addition to using this expression infantastic and realistic works, it can be found in everyday life. The name of Pandora is a small asteroid and satellite of the planet Saturn (opened in 1980). The virus was also discovered in 2013, with a huge number of sets of genes (over 2000). He was discovered on the coast of Chile and in some waters of Australia. A group of scientists from France, who discovered this "discovery", dubbed it "Pandora's box".
Here we looked at what “boxPandora ", and also gave examples of the use of this expression in real life and literary works. This idiom has great popularity, since none of the other similar statements reflect the meaning of any situation with negative consequences.
