In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, the woman whose opened jar released evils into the world was Pandora.
Pandora is a figure in early Greek poetry, especially Hesiod’s Works and Days, composed in the seventh century BCE. Her name is commonly interpreted as “all-gifted” or “all-giving,” reflecting the gifts supplied by the gods who helped create or adorn her.
Hesiod presents Pandora as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus’s theft of fire. She marries or joins Epimetheus, despite Prometheus’s warning not to accept gifts from Zeus. The container she opens releases hardships, diseases, and other troubles.
A common mix-up is calling the object a box. Hesiod describes a large storage jar, or pithos; “Pandora’s box” became the familiar expression through later Latin and European usage. In the myth, hope remains inside after the other evils escape.