What’s the deal with Jar?
First, though, about that “Screw Up Again” part -- Translators screwing up seems to be as old as, well, the business of translation itself, the consequences profound. See Could a Translation Snafu Spawn a Fourth World War?
The “Jar”
At the crux of the matter is the word “pithos,” meaning “jar”, in the Pandora myth. In translation, “pithos” was rendered as “pyxis”, a Latin word for box or casket by Erasmus of Rotterdam. Erasmus was not the only one given to the lost in translation malaise; Italian scholar Lilius Giraldus of Ferrara was also guilty.
The mistranslation was caught later, much later in the 20th century by British linguist and scholar Jane Ellen Harrison. However, “Pandora’s Box” was firmly entrenched by then. You don’t hear anyone saying “Open Pandora’s Jar”, right?
Mistranslation Consequences
And the consequences?
“According to Harrison’s writings on the topic, such a mistranslation clearly weakened the myth of Pandora from its genuine context in the ancient Greek customs, or its connectedness with the festival of Anthesteria that was held each spring and lasted up to three days.”
Read more about this fascinating translation snafu here:
Evil emerged from Pandora’s jar, not box as we’ve believed, and it might be the fault of Erasmus
Got to admit, though…Pandora’s Box does have a particular ring to it…
Article bY Japan, Tokyo based Japanese Translator
