The seductions of Hesiod: Pandora's presence in Plato's Symposium

This chapter argues that, in the Symposium, Plato not only recalls Hesiodic passages and motifs at important moments in the dialogue, but founds his portrayal of Socrates on Hesiod's Pandora. The claim is striking, even paradoxical if one thinks of Pandora as the bringer of evils. But defined, like Socrates, by the rift between interior and exterior, essence and appearance, Pandora is, like Socrates, a marvel to behold - and (also like him) a challenge to the intellect, the obvious prompt to philosophical inquiry.