Exploring the Concept of Hope

In Greek mythology, there is a story of the first woman created by the gods, Pandora, and the famous Pandora's box. To provide some context for the story, the Titan Prometheus had stolen fire from the gods and given it to men (only male humans existed then), inciting the wrath of the gods, Zeus most especially. In their plan to punish men for daring to use fire, the gods fashioned a woman named Pandora and gave her a jar (although, for some reason, people call it a box) as a gift and sent her off to join the world of men. Zeus tells her she must never open the box and that she shouldn't worry about what is inside.

Pandora goes off to live among men, but ever so often, she is driven by curiosity to find out what could be in the box. She had hidden the jar at the back of her garden to resist the temptation of opening it. But one day, the urge was too strong for her to resist (perhaps this was the work of the gods). She went to her garden, dug out the jar, and opened it. She could barely steady herself and fell to the ground when all sorts of malevolent creatures came flying out of the box into the world: Hardship, Starvation, Pain, Anarchy, Lies, Quarrels, Disputes, Wars, Battles, Manslaughters, Murders, Illness, Violence, Deceit, Misery, and Want. When Pandora realized what she had released into the world, she rushed to the jar and closed it. What she didn't know is that she had trapped one more creature in the jar forever: Hope.

The first time I read this story, it brought up so many questions for me. What is Hope doing in a jar that is supposed to contain the most horrifying punishments the gods could inflict on men? And why is Hope at the bottom of the box? Could it perhaps be the most malevolent creature of them all?

The Problem with Hope

Is hope the good we proclaim it to be? Think about all the times you've been disappointed in life—all the times you had high hopes, only to have them come crashing down.

Aristotle said, "Young men are easily deceived, for they are quick to hope."

Maybe you met a great person who you hoped would be perfect for you, and then they ghosted you after sleeping with you. Or you had really high hopes after graduating college that you would get a job and start an amazing, fun life, but it's been two years and you are barely getting any interviews. Maybe you had a great job and things were looking up for you until you got laid off. Maybe you lost someone—someone you hoped would be in your life forever.

It is often said that all our disappointments come from having too many expectations. If we had few expectations, we would not suffer so much grief when things don't go our way. As M.J. says in the Spiderman: No Way Home movie, "Expect disappointment, and you will never be disappointed."

Are we then really better off if we hoped for nothing?

The Power of Hope.

As we have seen, hoping can lead to terrible suffering. But perhaps that is only looking at half the picture. Many people would argue that there is power in hope.

Consider our pursuit of knowledge, creation, and innovation. What drives these ambitions? What compels the scientist to spend years on often frustrating research? What pushes the artist to create beautiful songs and paintings? Hope—hope that our creations will help alleviate suffering and improve our well-being.

The twentieth-century American psychologist Rollo May puts it beautifully in his book Man's Search for Meaning when he says:

Hope in its creative and healthy sense - whether it is hope for religious fulfillment or for a happy marriage or for achievement in one's profession - can and should be an energizing attitude, the bringing of part of the joy about some future event into the present so that by anticipation, we are more alive and more able to act in the present.

Conclusion

Granted, hope has led us to many heartbreaks and disappointments. For some of us, we may think it is pointless to hope because life has been so unkind, unfair, and perhaps just plain cruel to us. But it is through hope that we find the strength to seek a better life.

Maybe you think it is best not to hope, so you can spare yourself another heartbreak. But you need to ask yourself, is a hopeless world really a place you want to live in?

In the Inferno, Dante says it is written at the entrance to Hell, "Abandon all hope." I often wonder if this could have been written because it is futile to hope amidst the sufferings of Hell. Or perhaps it could be that Hell truly begins when we indeed abandon all hope.

---

Thank you for reading. Hope you had fun think and exploring this concept with me. If you'd like to see more of this, you can Follow Me on X so you can interact with me and see when I post new articles. Until next time, stay curious.😉