In Hesiod’s Works and Days, evils escaped from Pandora’s vessel after it was opened. The myth explains why suffering and misfortune exist among human beings.
Hesiod presents Pandora as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus gave people fire. The gods equip her with gifts, and she receives a sealed vessel with instructions connected to it. When it is opened, the evils inside fly out and spread across the earth, leaving humans vulnerable to disease, toil, and other hardships.
The story is often simplified into the phrase “opening Pandora’s box,” meaning beginning a chain of unforeseen problems. In Hesiod’s version, however, the vessel is a pithos, or storage jar. The account also includes Hope, which remains behind rather than escaping with the evils, a detail that has prompted centuries of discussion.