Greek Myth Retold by Louis Untermeyer

Pandora’s Box

Louis UntermeyerLouis Untermeyer was born in New York City on 1st October, 1885. After a brief formal education he left high school without graduating and found work with his father's jewelry manufacturing company. By 1923 Untermeyer was vice-president in his father's company but he decided to resign and concentrate on writing.

Over the next fifty years he wrote, edited or translated over one hundred books. This included several volumes of his own poetry. He also produced a series of anthologies, notably Modern American Poetry (1919), Modern British Poetry (1920), This Singing World (1923) and Selected Poems and Parodies (1935).

Untermeyer was an entertaining talker and in 1950 became a panelist on the television program, What's My Line. He continued to be active in campaigning for left-wing causes and as a result the FBI had been collecting a file of his activities. His name was also mentioned during the House of Un-American Activities Committee investigation into communist subversion. This was brought to the attention of the television industry and in 1951 Untermeyer was sacked from the television show and was blacklisted. Like many left-wing artists during this period, Untermeyer became a victim of McCarthyism.

Arthur Miller, a friend, writes, "Louis went back to his apartment. Normally we ran into each other in the street once or twice a week or kept in touch every month or so, but I no longer saw him in the neighborhood or heard from him. Louis didn't leave his apartment for almost a year and a half. An overwhelming and paralyzing fear had risen him. More than a political fear, it was really that he had witnessed the tenuousness of human connection and it had left him in terror. He had always loved a lot and been loved, especially on the TV program where his quips were vastly appreciated, and suddenly, he had been thrown into the street, abolished."

In 1956 Untermeyer was awarded a Gold Medal by the Poetry Society of America. He also served as a consultant in English poetry for the Library of Congress from 1961 until 1963.

Louis Untermeyer died on 18th December, 1977.

VOCABULARY WORDS

subtle - slight; difficult to detectZeus’ subtle punishment was not immediately obvious.

adorn – to enhance or decorateThe gods adorn her with special gifts.

ensnare – to take or catch in somethingHer beauty and charm helped ensnare his attention.

restrain – to hold back; to controlShe could no longer restrain her curiosity.

Olympus was the residence of the divine family, the twelve most important ruling gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, who therefore were called the Olympians. There they all lived together in an enormous palace, high above the clouds. Olympus is generally identified with Mount Olympus in Thessaly, which is the highest mountain in Greece, but very often it is identified also as some mysterious region far above the earth.

Greek Gods and GoddessesIn the myth, “Pandora’s Box”

Zeus

Hephaestus

Aphrodite

Hera, the wife of ZeusAthene, Greek goddess of wisdom

Greece

PROMETHEUS GAVE

HUMANS GIFTS. HE

GAVE THEM THE

ABILITY TO STAND

ON TWO LEGS LIKE

THE GODS, AND HE

GAVE THEM THE GIFT

OF FIRE. ALSO, HE

TRICKED ZEUS INTO

GIVING HUMANS

MEAT AND THE GODS

THE BONES AND FAT

DURING SACRIFICES

TO THE GODS.

ZEUS, BEING THE

IRRITABLE,

EGOMANIAC THAT HE

WAS, WASN’T TOO

HAPPY WITH

PROMETHEUS, AND

DECIDED THE

PUNISHED BOTH

PROMETHEUS AND

HUMANS.

ZEUS CHAINED

PROMETHEUS TO A

ROCK.

Literary Terms in “Pandora’s Box”

Theme: A theme is a message about life or human nature that the writer shares with the reader.

In many cases, readers must infer what the writer’s message is. One way of figuring out a theme is to apply the lessons learned by the main characters to people in real life.

All great stories have a theme, whether it is about the value of friendship, the bonds of a family’s love, or the triumph of good over evil.

Describe a movie that you have seen.Summarize the important message of the movie by stating the theme.What did the movie want you to learn? What was the film-maker saying to you about life, friends, money, family, or happiness?

THEME

SYMBOL

SYMBOL: A symbol is a person, place, an object, or an activity that stands for something beyond itself. For example, a flag is a colored piece of cloth that stands for a country. A white dove is a bird that represents peace.

Why do you think people always want what they don’t have?

Get ready to read. Discuss the questions with a partner.

What problems are caused by wanting things that are out of reach?

Read “Pandora’s Box” carefully. Make note of the theme and be ready to COMPARE it to the next story, “Loo-Wit, the Fire-Keeper.” You will also COMPARE AND CONTRAST the similarities anddifferences in mythologies from different cultures.

Native American Myth Retold by Joseph Bruchac

Loo-Wit, the Fire-Keeper

I grew up in the small town of Greenfield Center, New York, which is in the foothills of the Adirondacks not far from the city of Saratoga Springs. It is a place I love, close to the forests and the mountains. I was raised by my grandparents, who had a little general store. My grandmother, Marion Dunham Bowman, was a graduate of Albany Law School. Although she never did practice law, she kept the house filled with books. It's because of her that I was always reading. My grandfather, Jesse Bowman, was of Abenaki Indian descent. He could barely read and write, but I remember him as one of the kindest people I ever knew. I followed him everywhere. He showed me how to walk quietly in the woods and how to fish. He told me that his father never spanked him, but would only talk to him when he misbehaved. He raised me in the same way.

I started to write when I was in the second grade. I wrote poems to my teacher. One day, when she read one to the class, some of the bigger boys got jealous. They beat me up after school. That was my first experience with hostile literary critics. But I kept on writing. And I was always reading, especially classic children's stories about animals.

For over thirty years Joseph Bruchac has been creating poetry, short stories, novels, anthologies and music that reflect his Abenaki Indian heritage and Native American traditions.

He is the author of more than 120 books for children and adults

Places to Know

OregonWillamette River in Oregon

Multnomahs Tribe

Native American group who lived in the area where Portland, Oregon currently stands.

Washington

Klickitat Tribe – Native AmericansLiving north of the Columbia River in Washington

Mt. HoodHighest mountain in Oregon

Mount AdamsHighest mountain in the state of Washington

Mount St. HelensAn active volcano in Washington that erupted in

1980killing 57 people and destroying hundreds of homes,

bridges, highways, and railways.

Mt. Helens Erupting