In Greek mythology, what did Pandora do immediately after the evils escaped?

In Greek mythology, Pandora closed the vessel immediately after the evils escaped.

Hesiod’s account says that Pandora replaced the lid after the contents had gone out. The action explains why hope remained inside rather than joining the released troubles.

This is a small but important detail often omitted from abbreviated versions of the story. Popular retellings frequently focus on the opening and describe Pandora as simply looking into a box, whereas the ancient narrative includes a second action: closing the container.

The wording does not make Pandora a deliberate villain in a modern sense. Her act is part of a divine arrangement associated with Zeus’s punishment of humanity, and the myth’s moral interpretation has varied across later retellings.