In Hesiod’s account, Pandora released evils by opening the jar.
The story appears in Hesiod’s Works and Days, composed in archaic Greece. Hesiod describes a container holding destructive troubles that had previously been kept away from human life. When Pandora opens it, the evils escape and spread among humanity. The myth explains why suffering, disease, toil, and other hardships exist in the human world.
The familiar expression “Pandora’s box” comes from a later translation tradition. Hesiod’s Greek word refers to a large storage jar, often called a pithos, rather than a small box. The change became influential through Renaissance Latin usage and helped create the modern phrase.
The wording “evils” is more precise than answers such as “all suffering” or “disasters,” because Hesiod’s account specifically describes evils escaping from the container. Hope is treated separately in the passage: it remains inside after the lid is replaced, though interpretations of its role vary.