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Myths of the human condition. Numerous legends have tried to explain why human nature was not perfect and why people died. In Western civilization the best known of these stories is found in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Some Christians accept the story as literal history, while others regard it as a parable. In either case the point is the same. The first two humans, Adam and Eve, lived in a garden and had direct acquaintance with their creator. They were allowed full use of the garden except for one tree?the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Tempted by a serpent, Eve ate some of the fruit of the tree and persuaded Adam to do the same. Immediately their original innocence was lost, and they knew they had been disobedient. The penalty was expulsion from the garden and eventual death. This legend was recreated in the 17th century by the English poet John Milton in his classic work -Paradise Lost?. In Greek legend the first woman on Earth was Pandora. After Prometheus had stolen fire from heaven and given it to mankind, Zeus determined to counteract this benefit. He asked Hephaestus, a fire god (Vulcan to the Romans), to fashion a woman from clay. She opened a jar that released all kinds of evil and misery upon the world (see Pandora).There is an African myth that explains death as the result of a failed message. God sent a chameleon to deliver a message that people would be immortal. He also sent a lizard with news that they would die. The chameleon took his time making the journey and arrived late. The lizard?s message of doom was the one that the people received.
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