Pandora's Amphora

at Nine Gallery in Portland, OR

October 1-31, 2026

Recent Exhibitions

2023  2024

Eva Prima Pandora (after Jean Cousin the Elder c. 1550)          photo credit: Mario Gallucci

Artist Statement

    In Greek mythology, the story of Pandora comes from Hesiod’s 700 BC poem, Works and Days. According to Hesiod, when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus, the king of the gods, took vengeance by creating Pandora from clay. She was the first woman of the earth, and was sent to be presented to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother. She brought with her a pithos (storage jar/amphora), which was a gift to Epimetheus…. And we all know the rest. The Woes of the World continue today: Suffering, Pain, Hatred, Envy, Disease, Old Age, Violence, War, Greed.
    Only one spirit, Hope, remained trapped inside after Pandora closed the lid, symbolizing that even in times of great hardship, hope persists.

    The mistranslation of pithos happened in the 16th century, when Erasmus of Rotterdam translated Hesiod’s tale of Pandora into Latin. Erasmus translated pithos, a storage jar, into the Latin word pyxis, meaning box. This is how it became the myth we know as “Pandora’s Box.”
   The Amphora, being a little sister to the larger Pithos, I envision Pandora arriving on earth holding an amphora--each made of clay.

I’m celebrating 50 years of ceramic-making to realize this series. I hope you enjoy.

Ronna Neuenschwander