In Hesiod’s myth, Zeus used Pandora to bring evil to humanity. The story follows Prometheus’s theft of fire, which allowed humans to possess a power Zeus had withheld. Zeus responded by ordering the creation of Pandora and arranging for her arrival among mortals.
Works and Days describes Pandora as a deceptive gift. Once she opens the container in the house of Epimetheus, countless evils escape and spread among human beings. Hesiod presents this episode as an explanation for why suffering, disease, toil, and other hardships exist in the human condition.
The myth is often summarized as a warning about curiosity, but that interpretation is incomplete. Hesiod places the event inside a larger conflict between Zeus and Prometheus. Pandora is both a character and a divine punishment. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” also changes the original image: Hesiod’s Greek word is pithos, normally a large storage jar, not a small box.