the
             Romantic era and the time of the pre-Raphaelites, she had been reinstated
             as a force of elegance and mystery and beauty. All the same, the box and
             her relationship to it was coming more and more to be central to her
             representation. This led naturally to her representation in the modern era,
             where she is alternately represented as an idealized figure of female
             beauty and spiritual power, or as a subversive feminist and antifeminist
             object, or as a secondary figure in tableaus that focus their energy not on
             Pandora but on her box and the power of its opening. Increasingly it was
             the box, and not Pandora herself, that began to impact artists. These
             trends can be traced to social and religious roots, differences in the
             perception of women, and the progress of technological history.
             In classical art, Pandora is frequently represented. Unlike many
             nymphs and other figures in classical art, she appears to be always shown
             clothed and modest, as befits the mother of all people. It appears that
             Pandora appears most frequently in classical art in connection with her
             creation and in being presented to Epimetheus. (The brother of Prometheus,
             whose name means hindsight. He would eventually marry her) She is
             portrayed both as a subject of creation, in which she seems almost statue
             like and inanimate, and also as an active and soulful actor in her own
             evolution. In a number of classical pieces archived at the Classical Myth
             and Ancient Art site, Pandora is shown in a stiff and formal female stance.
             She stares straight ahead with her hands at her sides, almost motionless as
             her godly creators fuss about her to finish their work. There is something
             in these pieces reminiscent of the story of Galatea and Pygmalion, as the
             perfect created woman is brought to life for the first time.
             Yet despite the fact that most of the classical art dealing with
             Pandora addresses her conception, she i...