Pandora the Curious is the ninth book in the Goddess Girls series, retelling the tale of Pandora's Box and the Tale of Prometheus, a Titan who gave human race the gift of fire and was punished by Zeus.
Official Summary[]
Pandora is one of the few mortals at Mount Olympus Academy—and probably the most curious of all the students in school. Her quizzical nature is famous—not that she thinks there is anything wrong with being curious, of course! When a god boy named Epimetheus brings a mysterious and fantastical box to school, Pandora’s curiosity is piqued. And when it unexpectedly lands in her lap—literally—she can’t help but take a look at what’s inside. What could be the harm in that? But little does she know that opening the box will open up more trouble than she thought.
Plot[]
Before Science-ology, Pandora sees a Titan boy named Epimetheus holding a box. Curious to see what's inside, she turns to walk to him when Kydoimos and Makkai come and take his box. Then they toss the box to each other, and unintentionally, to the other godboys before it falls into Pandora's hands. She opens it and ten different colored bubbles are revealed to be inside. They all escape, but the yellow one remains as Epimetheus slams down the lid.
The bubbles float away, and one bumps into Athena, whispering "ditz". In class, Principal Zeus talks about an upcoming science fair and asks the students to pick partners. Pandora ends up in a group with Prometheus and Epimetheus. They make clay statues, similar to the ones in their Hero-ology class.
Pandora notices her roommate Athena is acting out of character, not paying attention in class, and wearing nail polish. Later, another one bumps into Artemis, whispering "vain".
At lunchtime, the lunch lady hands Prometheus a plate of liver, which he refuses, saying he hates it. When Pandora grabs her lunch, she goes to sit at the "unpopular table" with her friends Medusa and Pheme. Later, a bubble bumps into Persephone on the way out, making her angry. After school, their team puts the statues in the Hero-ology classroom on the game board. At dinner Medusa complains that Pandora got more nectaroni than her, so she lets her have some, to which the gorgon takes almost all her food. Pandora thinks Medusa must have gotten bumped by a "greed" bubble.
The next day, Pandora's team goes to the office to get an "earth pass", which is a pass that a student can use to travel to Earth during classes. She grabs a pair of winged sandals, then the Titan boys state that the sandals do not work for Titans. So the boys make a balloon ride and fly down to Zeus's temple. They notice how cold it is, causing Prometheus to buy cloaks for them all. They meet a lot of mortals asking for fire, and Prometheus wants to give them some U-fire, which is what powers the balloon, but Epimetheus is adamant against it. The mortals run and tell the others they have fire. Then they fly away in the balloon.
When the trio head back to MOA, Prometheus wants to give his clay statues some weapons to hunt with, but accidentally knocks some in the water. When they grab them, Mr. Cyclops discovers what they were doing and stops their project.
Pandora goes up to her room and is surprised when the scientist pictures that Athena had put up are gone, as well as receiving a B-minus in her test. Later, Aphrodite comes to her room and they discuss how strange everyone has been acting lately. When Artemis joins her, both girls are shocked. Artemis, who normally won't care about fashion, is dressed in fancy apparel and stating that she wants to give away her old dogs and keep a new one, she named 'Cutie Pie'. Afterwards, Artemis leaves and Athena comes back in. Together, they discuss a way to get the box back.
Aphrodite, Athena, and Pandora sneak up to the boy's dorms and come across Poseidon, wearing a towel, flippers, and goggles. He wants to report them for being in the boy's dorm, but Aphrodite mediates this by threatening to tell Pheme, the school's gossiper, that he wears flippers and goggles in the bath. Poseidon helps them find Epimetheus' room. After he leaves, they take notice of Ares's armor suit guard, which blocks them from passing. Pandora solves this by asking questions that drive it crazy, causing it to go haywire. Aphrodite then gets bumped by a "rude" bubble, causing her to do armpit farts. Their sound alerts the other godboys, and Pandora rushes everyone into Epimetheus's room before anyone else sees them. Prometheus then gets bumped by a "thief" bubble. Epimetheus states he gave the box to Principal Zeus for safekeeping, and Pandora mentions how strange Aphrodite and Athena are acting, along with his brother stealing stuff.
Then, they cast an invisibility spell to sneak out and go into Zeus's office to retrieve the box. Aphrodite and Athena stay in the doorway to keep on a lookout. Prometheus attempts to steal Ms. Hydra's bell, but Epimetheus catches him and he outs it back. They enter the room, and Pandora accidentally trips over the messy floor and realizes that Zeus has been there the whole time. The Principal mistakes them for his winged horse, Pegasus, and almost zaps Pandora's hair. Before they are able to grab the box, the fire alarm lyrebell rang. Zeus notices them for a second then falls back asleep. They trick him into thinking his wife, Hera, is coming. Zeus then stand-sleeps and they push him out the door.
Outside in the courtyard, students stand everywhere, still wearing their pyjamas. Artemis's other dogs play around the other students. Hades points to where the fire was, which is in the Hero-ology classroom. Zeus stands outside, mumbling his orders, but luckily the fire hose system Poseidon made recognizes his voice, and the fire dies out. Pandora tricks Poseidon into being scared by his own shadow. Zeus then calls over Pandora and Epimetheus and shows them one of the clay statues they made, but it is charred while holding a small torch in its hand. Prometheus says he accidentally started the fire. Zeus sees into his mind and gives him his punishment, which is to forever eat liver. Then he calls an eagle to watch Prometheus so he eats all of his liver.
The next day, prior to the science fair that will happen later on, Pandora goes to the cafeteria to eat, seeing Prometheus with a plate piled high with liver. Epimetheus explains that it's a magical pile of liver, therefore more liver appears after he eats some. Later, the scientists come to MOA for the science fair in Hermes's Delivery Chariot. Pandora tries to find the last bubble, but it bumps into one of the scientists. He lies that his name is Aristotle, and another scientist argues, saying his name is Aristotle. He tells the other students ridiculous lies, like mathematics is the study of fruit.
Pandora walks down the aisle and sees Poseidon and Apollo's project, which says that his hypothesis is to be scared of everything. Then she spots Prometheus trying to steal Heracles's club. She then gets the box, opens it, and sees the last bubble inside. She slowly opens it more, while saying "I hope". The box flashes and the bubble comes out and bumps her, whispering "Hope". The bubble flies around the school and bumps into people. Then it bumps into Athena, and there is a reverse popping sound, and the blue "Ditz" bubble reappears. She catches the bubble in a butterfly net, then tosses the box to Epimetheus, and he catches it in the box. The bubble continues to hit more students, reversing so the people will act normal again, as Pandora continues to catch them all and put them back in the box.
Trivia[]
- In Greek Myths...
- In the tale of Pandora's box, the evil spirits didn't go away, but hope remained to keep humans positive.
- In the tale of Prometheus, he gifted humankind fire and the skill to do metalwork but was punished by Zeus, who ensured everyday that an eagle ate the liver of the Titan.
- In some traditions, Prometheus made the first man from clay.[1]
- The ten bubbles in order were:
- Ditz - This bubble turned Athena dumb.
- Vain - This bubble turned Artemis egotistical.
- Anger - This bubble turned Persephone livid.
- Lazy - This bubble turned Zeus lazy.
- Greed - This bubble turned Medusa greedy.
- Rude - This bubble turned Aphrodite impolite.
- Thief - This bubble turned Prometheus into a stealer.
- Fear - This bubble turned Poseidon into a coward.
- Liar - This bubble turned Pythagoras into a liar.
- Hope - This bubble turned Pandora and Epimetheus hopeful.
References[]
- ↑ Mark Cartwright (20 April 2013). "Prometheus". Ancient History Encyclopedia.