Digital illustration greek mythology | Poisoned gift (Final version) [100% Power Up]

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great day. Today, I am finally posting the finished illustration of my Pandora illustration.

I made a few modifications compared to the last version. I changed the box to a jar which is truer to the original myth and more aesthetically pleasing. The rest was kept similar. I only changed the color to a more muted dark grey blue.

There are two sides of the myth. On one hand, Pandora is considered to be the bringer of death and despair among humans, but she is also the bringer of fertility because before her, death and birth didn't exist. That's why I chose to add both the flowers as a symbol of life (coming from the decorations on the jar) and the skeletons as death. As with the Fates and the thread, this is also a metaphor for the cycle of life.

Originally, Pandora was found to be connected to Gaia, Demeter and other earth deities, which indicates that over time this "all-giving" goddess was "demoted" to an "all-gifted" mortal woman. This version is the one depicted in Hesiod's poem the Work and Days and is unfortunately the most well known. I say unfortunately because Hesiod often painted a negative portrayal of women in his poems and this is clearly apparent in this retelling of the Pandora's myth.

Thanks for viewing!