In Greek mythology, what action caused the evils inside Pandora’s vessel to escape?

In Greek mythology, opening the jar caused the evils inside Pandora’s vessel to escape. This action is the key event that gives the story its later association with an irreversible chain of trouble.

Hesiod’s Works and Days presents Pandora as opening the container, after which the evils spread among humans. The poem also says that hope remained inside, creating the story’s distinctive balance between disaster and consolation.

Many later retellings describe Pandora as acting from curiosity, but that motivation is not stated as clearly in Hesiod’s earliest surviving account as it is in modern children’s stories and popular summaries. The expression “opening Pandora’s box” now means starting a process that releases many unforeseen problems.