In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora is the woman whose jar releases humanity’s troubles.
Hesiod presents Pandora as the first woman, fashioned by the gods after Zeus decided to punish humanity for Prometheus’s theft of fire. Each god contributes something to her appearance or abilities, and Hermes gives her a deceptive character. Zeus then sends her to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” is slightly misleading. Hesiod describes a large storage jar, called a pithos in Greek, rather than a small box. Pandora opens it, and sickness, toil, and other hardships escape into the world. Hope remains inside, although the exact meaning of that detail has been debated since antiquity.
The name Pandora means “all-gifted” or “all-giving,” reflecting the gifts supplied by the gods. Her story appears most fully in Works and Days, while later retellings shaped the version commonly known today.