Eve and Pandora Contrasted

Phipps, William E.

doi:10.1177/004057368804500104

Cited by 4 publications

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“…God places a rainbow in the heavens as a sign of His covenant with man that He will not send another flood (Genesis 9: 13). The bow becomes the very symbol of hope and provides Noah and his family with a life purpose (see Phipps 1988;Kaplan 2013Kaplan , 2020.…”

Section: Precipitating Stressormentioning

confidence: 99%

Biblical versus Greek Narratives for Suicide Prevention and Life Promotion: Releasing Hope from Pandora’s Urn

Kaplan

2021

Religions

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Although suicide has been unfortunately stigmatized unfairly through the ages, we should not make the mistake of going to the opposite extreme and valorizing it. We should not forget that the major role of health care professionals is to prevent suicide when possible and to invigorate the underlying life force in the person. Suicide is often the ultimate outcome of a tragic and pessimistic view of life. It was prevalent in ancient Greek writing. Indeed, over 16 suicides and self-mutilations can be found in the 26 surviving tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. In contrast, only six suicides can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and only one suicide in the Christian Scriptures. In addition, the Hebrew Scriptures present numerous suicide-prevention narratives that effectively provide a psychological instruction for people in despair which seems unavailable to figures in the writings of the great Greek tragedians. Unfortunately, some religious traditions tended to go to the opposite extreme in stigmatizing suicide rather than understanding it and trying to prevent it. This paper examines evidence regarding seven evidence-based risk factors for suicide: (1) Feeling depressed and isolated; (2) Feeling one’s life is without purpose; (3) Being a refugee from one’s homeland; (4) Feeling unable to express oneself with others; (5) Being adopted; (6) Feeling abandoned by one’s child leaving the family nest; and (7) Feeling doomed by a dysfunctional (indeed incestuous) family of origin We contrast biblical and Greek narratives regarding each of these factors, respectively: (1) Elijah against Ajax, (2) Job against Zeno, (3) David against Coriolanus, (4) Jonah against Narcissus, (5) Moses against Oedipus, (6) Rebecca against Phaedra, and finally, (7) Ruth against Antigone. These biblical figures thrive across risk factors while their Greek and Roman counterparts kill or mutilate themselves or provoke others to do the job. All these contrasts should demonstrate to psychotherapists, counselors, and clergy alike as to how Greek narratives lead to self-destructive behaviors while biblical narratives provide a hopeful positive psychology, and a constructive way out these dilemmas. My colleagues (Paul Cantz, Matthew Schwartz, and Moriah Markus-Kaplan) and I call for a biblical psychotherapy for positive psychology, suicide prevention, and indeed life promotion. Where hope is locked up in Pandora’s urn after she has released all the evils unto the world, the biblical God places hope into the sky as a bow after Noah and his family and all the creatures on the ark disembark to land after the receding of the flood.

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Section: Precipitating Stressormentioning

confidence: 99%

Biblical versus Greek Narratives for Suicide Prevention and Life Promotion: Releasing Hope from Pandora’s Urn

Kaplan

2021

Religions

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“…2 Ver S. Lachs (1974) que, sem propriamente negar a relação entre as narrativas, analisou o emprego das figuras de Pandora e de Eva na literatura rabínica elaborada no fim da Antiguidade e início da Idade Média. Já W. E. Phipps (1988) defendeu não haver qualquer relação originária entre os mitos de Pandora e Eva. A vinculação desses dois mitos, argumenta o autor, foi elaborada pelas leituras ocidentais posteriores.…”

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Mito e gênero: Pandora e Eva em perspectiva histórica comparada

Silva

Andrade

2009

Cad. Pagu

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Neste artigo, discutimos as potencialidades teórico-metodológicas dos estudos de gênero na perspectiva da História Comparada. A partir da análise de enunciações dos mitos de Pandora e Eva, focalizamos uma problemática do gênero associada à tematização do corpo e do casamento na Atenas Clássica (apropriações das narrativas do mito de Pandora por Hesíodo) e no Reino de Portugal em fins do medievo, analisando como a diferença é significada, questionada e legitimada nestes dois contextos históricos distintos.

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Cross-Cultural Reflections on the Feminine “Other”: Hebraism and Hellenism Redux

Cantz

Kaplan

2012

Pastoral Psychol

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Eve and Pandora Contrasted

Abstract: “Contrary to prevailing opinion, there is reason to hold that the myths of Eve and Pandora are quite dissimilar in original meaning. Our lack of awareness of this difference has been due to interpreters throughout Western civilization who have mingled these two stories together.”

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Biblical versus Greek Narratives for Suicide Prevention and Life Promotion: Releasing Hope from Pandora’s Urn

Biblical versus Greek Narratives for Suicide Prevention and Life Promotion: Releasing Hope from Pandora’s Urn

Mito e gênero: Pandora e Eva em perspectiva histórica comparada

Cross-Cultural Reflections on the Feminine “Other”: Hebraism and Hellenism Redux

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