Pandora opened the container that released evils into the world in Greek mythology.
In Hesiod’s account, the gods created Pandora and sent her to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. She carried a sealed container whose contents included troubles destined to enter human life. Although warned not to open it, Pandora lifted the lid, allowing the evils to escape.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” is slightly misleading. Hesiod described a large storage jar, called a pithos, rather than a small box. The box became standard in later European retellings because of a Renaissance translation choice.
One thing remained inside after the release: hope. Interpretations differ over whether hope was trapped as protection for humanity or was itself another withheld experience, but Pandora is consistently the figure associated with opening the container.