The Greek myth of origins allows the feminine and the maternal, in their creative and destructive aspects, to populate the originary stage alongside the masculine and the paternal. Pandora, who introduces us to death as well as to hope, is explored alongside Green's dead mother introject to conceptualize two clinical cases in terms of hope and the compassionate touch. Phantasies of deadness related to traumatic loss in a background of maternal absence which mark each of these patients are explored through transferential and countertransferential encounters in the treatment. Green's wrk on the dead mother, Kristeva's work on maternality and abjection, and Nussbaum's work on compassion are utilized to provide a conceptual framework for the treatments of these two women patients.