In Greek mythology, who opened Pandora’s box?

In Greek mythology, Pandora opened the container later known as Pandora’s box.

The story appears most fully in Hesiod’s Works and Days, where Pandora is created by the gods and sent to humanity. She receives a large storage jar, not a small box, and is associated with the release of evils into the world.

The popular expression “Pandora’s box” comes from later translation history. The original Greek word is pithos, meaning a large jar or storage vessel. The Latin writer Erasmus helped popularize the box wording in the sixteenth century.

The myth is often simplified into a story about curiosity, but Hesiod’s version also concerns divine punishment, human suffering, and the place of women in ancient Greek thought. Pandora is not described in the original text as an ordinary mortal who accidentally finds a mysterious box.