In Greek mythology, Zeus was riled that humans had acquired the forbidden gift of fire from Prometheus. So he ordered that the first woman, Pandora, be created as punishment for mankind.

Pandora was given a large jar that contained various seductive evils – greed, envy, vanity, etc. – and told not to open it. But the “curious woman” did, of course, allowing these harmful items to escape.

Thus the modern metaphor “Pandora’s box.”

Which brings me to Pandora.com.

The curiously named Internet radio service allows users to enter an artist or song, then the site creates an ongoing station based on selections that are musically similar. Users rate whether these song choices are appropriate, which Pandora takes into consideration for future recommendations.

For instance, I typed in Ben Folds Five, and I got a full version (for free) of the band’s song “Army,” followed by artists such as Spoon, Ben Kweller, The Beatles and Guster.

This process is far more complicated than one might imagine. It dates back to the 2000 formation of the Music Genome Project in which “a group of musicians and music-loving technologists … set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level.”

These Genome folks came up with over 400 musical traits (called “genes”) that quantified the identity of a song, such as melody, orchestration, lyrics and rhythm. Those were combined into larger groups known as focus traits, which further broke down the songs by means of things such as tonality and instrumental proficiency. And this was done with tens of thousands of artists and songs.

When testing this concept, I became amused at how the selections ranged from the obvious (you type in The Who, you get Led Zeppelin) to the pleasantly unexpected (enter Dusty Springfield and get Keane in return).

The song function proved equally useful. I submitted “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath – among my go-to hard rock classics – and ended up with solid recommendations. The third of these was a song called “The Queen” by an act I had never heard of called Bang.

The Florida trio kicked around in the early 1970s but never quite made it to the big time. Its sludge rock material now sounds refreshingly retro, like an Americanized Sabbath fronted by Ted Nugent.

But this leads me back to the whole “Pandora’s box” concept.

Now that I have Pandora.com, I’ll never need to buy Bang’s record – something I probably would have gone out of my way to do had a buddy played me the same track. I can listen for free, and I have no idea if the surviving members will ever see a dime.

In fact, the Pandora service is no longer available in any other country except the U.S., because of recent decisions by the Copyright Royalty Board that have upped fees and requested licensing guarantees.

Is Pandora a positive thing for music fans or a floodgate that will divert even more revenue streams away from musicians and songwriters? Hard to say at this early stage of the Music Industry vs. Internet ruckus.

But remember, when Pandora opened her allegorical box, she was quick enough to close it, ensuring one value remained inside: hope.