Pandora’s Myth, James Cameron, Tomb Raider and the Fall of Man

Pandora by John William Waterhouse 1896

So I was revisiting Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life the other day, a flick where Angelina Jolie searches for the legendary Pandora’s Box, and something tickled my brain and gave me pause. I found it interesting that both in the age of antiquity and in some of the minds of modern day, women are the vehicles responsible for the fall of man. Of course we all know the original sin story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and the snake and apple. It is probably the most famous of all ‘women are the root of all evil’ stories. I think there is even a creation movie lost somewhere in the Hollywood archives depicting this cataclysmic moment in time.

What do Pandora's Myth, Pandora the planet, and Tomb Raider have in common?

In the Pandora myth, the story goes that Pandora was the first woman on Earth, created by Hephaestus in answer to Zeus’ command. It was a command meant to be a punishment for man’s gain of the secret of fire from Prometheus who stole fire from the gods. Zeus’ vengeance came in the form of Pandora, a beautiful ‘evil’ destined to torment…[Read more…]