Pandora was the woman created by the gods in the Greek myth of Pandora’s box.
The story appears most fully in Hesiod’s works, where Zeus orders Pandora’s creation after Prometheus steals fire for humanity. Different gods give her qualities or gifts, and her name is commonly explained as meaning “all-gifted.”
Pandora is sent to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother. Although Prometheus warns Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus, Epimetheus welcomes Pandora. She later opens the container entrusted to her, releasing troubles into the world.
Modern retellings usually call the container a box, but the earliest Greek account describes a large storage jar. The myth is therefore about Pandora herself as much as the object she opens, and “Pandora’s box” has become a phrase for an action that creates many unexpected problems.