Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

On recent Wordsmith editions we've been investigating pan, the prefix meaning "all," that heads up such words as pantomime, etymologically the "imitator of all," and panacea, which means "all-healing."

We can add the name of the mythological character Pandora to this lexical family portrait, because the pan in her name is identical to the one that occurs in pantomime and panacea.

One version of her story asserts that Pandora was the world's first mortal woman, created by Zeus to punish mortal men for their offensive deeds. Beautiful Pandora was sent to earth with a wooden box of baleful gifts from the gods: sickness, hunger, death and others. When she reached the world of mortals, she flung open the box and unleashed the divine calamities upon humanity.

Another story has Pandora going to earth as a courier of blessings. When she left Mt. Olympus, the gods gave her a boxful of helpful gifts for humankind. Pandora prematurely opened the box, however, and all the blessings escaped.

In any case, the name Pandora means "all-gifts," because, depending upon which tale you prefer, the young mortal woman brought to earth either all the curses from the gods, or all the blessings from the immortals of Mt. Olympus.

Radio Script > Pandora