In Hesiod’s Theogony, what phrase describes Pandora in the Greek myth?

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

The phrase captures a central tension in Hesiod’s presentation of Pandora: she is attractive and alluring, yet her arrival is connected with suffering for humanity. The wording appears in the Theogony’s account of Zeus’s response to Prometheus’s theft of fire.

Hesiod’s Pandora is not simply an evil character acting independently. She is created and equipped by the gods, then sent as part of Zeus’s punishment. The later story in Works and Days gives more detail about the container and the release of troubles, while the Theogony uses compressed, striking language.

Modern retellings often describe Pandora as curious, malicious, or morally guilty. Hesiod’s text is more complicated. It presents her as a divine creation and as a symbol of the danger that can be hidden behind beauty and gifts. “Beautiful evil” is therefore a textual description, not Pandora’s personal name.