Zeus gave Pandora the jar that held humanity’s troubles in the best-known Greek myth. He instructed her not to open it before sending her to Epimetheus.
Hesiod’s Works and Days describes Zeus as arranging Pandora’s creation after Prometheus stole fire for humans. The container held evils or hardships that escaped when Pandora lifted its lid. Hope remained inside, depending on how the ancient passage is interpreted.
Modern retellings usually call the object Pandora’s box. The Greek word pithos means a large storage jar, so “box” is a later translation tradition rather than the literal object in Hesiod’s story. The myth explains why suffering exists while preserving a connection with hope.