In Hesiod’s Theogony, what phrase describes Pandora as a “beautiful evil”?

In Hesiod’s Theogony, Pandora is described with the Greek phrase kalon kakon, meaning “beautiful evil.”

The phrase captures a central idea in Hesiod’s presentation of Pandora: she is outwardly attractive but brings suffering to humanity. The gods contribute different gifts to her creation, and her beauty is part of the divine design that makes her appealing to mortals. The wording is especially important because it shows that Pandora’s danger is presented through a mixture of attraction and harm.

The Theogony and Works and Days are the two major surviving poems associated with Hesiod. They do not tell every detail in exactly the same way, but both connect Pandora’s creation with Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus’s theft of fire.

Translations vary in punctuation and wording, so readers may encounter “a beautiful evil,” “a lovely evil,” or related formulations. The Greek phrase itself is the specific expression commonly cited from the Theogony.