In Greek mythology, Pandora released evils when she opened the container given to her. Hesiod describes the vessel as holding troubles that then spread among human beings.
The story appears in Hesiod’s Works and Days. Zeus sends Pandora to Epimetheus as part of a punishment connected with Prometheus’s theft of fire. Although Epimetheus had been warned against accepting gifts from Zeus, he receives Pandora. She later opens the sealed vessel, allowing the evils inside to escape.
Modern retellings usually call the object a box, producing the expression “Pandora’s box.” The ancient Greek term was pithos, a large storage jar, so “box” reflects later translation and artistic tradition rather than Hesiod’s original word.
Hesiod’s account also says that one thing remained inside after the evils escaped: hope. That detail has generated centuries of debate about whether hope is presented as a comfort, a withheld resource, or part of Zeus’s plan.