In Greek mythology, evils escaped from Pandora’s jar after she opened it.
Hesiod presents the container as holding harmful conditions that had previously been absent from human life. Once Pandora lifts the lid, diseases, toil, and other forms of suffering spread among humanity. The story gives a mythic explanation for why people experience hardship.
The exact contents are described broadly rather than as a neat modern inventory. Later retellings often summarize them as evils, miseries, or troubles. This is why the phrase “open Pandora’s box” now means to start a chain of complicated problems.
The myth is often misunderstood as saying that Pandora released every evil in a single named list. Hesiod’s emphasis is instead on the sudden distribution of human suffering. The remaining element, hope, has generated separate debate because translations and interpretations differ over its role.