In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora released evils from Zeus’s sealed jar.
Hesiod describes the container as holding destructive troubles that had previously been kept away from human beings. When Pandora opened it, the evils escaped and spread through the world. The passage does not present the contents as a modern assortment of named monsters; it treats them broadly as illnesses, hardships, and other forms of suffering.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” comes from a later translation tradition. Hesiod’s Greek word is pithos, a large storage jar, and the text does not make hope an evil that escaped. Instead, Hope remains inside after the other contents leave.
Modern retellings often say “all the evils in the world,” which captures the general idea but smooths over the wording and structure of Hesiod’s original poem.