ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the myth of Pandora and her box as symbol and metaphor in psychoanalysis, as well as in Western art and literature. From a psychoanalytic perspective, Pandora's box refers to structurally distinct symbols and metaphors, conscious and preconscious secrets, as well as to repressed unconscious metaphorical danger, or traumatic experience. Pandora and Eve are related to the sirens of Greek myth whose seductions are irresistible. Anticipating the gifts of sex and love, the men are betrayed and led to their own death. The Pandora myth represents the repressed unconscious, the return of the repressed, and curiosity. In addition, in the psychoanalytic process, it represents resistance and progress. The Pandora myth may represent concealed and revealed personal and familial secrets, a conspiracy of silence, and universal fantasies related to secrets and secrecy. In terms of developmental achievement, Pandora's box represents impulse control, self-regulation, and hopeful optimism.
