In Hesiod’s Works and Days, evils escaped from Pandora’s vessel before the lid was closed.
The poem presents the vessel as containing numerous troubles that had previously been absent from human life. When Pandora opens it, these evils fly out and spread among people. Hesiod connects the episode with sickness, toil, and other forms of suffering that characterize mortal existence.
The scene is often summarized as “Pandora released all the evils into the world.” That is broadly accurate, but the original poem does not provide a complete inventory of the contents. It also does not call the vessel a box; the Greek word pithos normally refers to a large storage jar.
Hope is the exceptional remainder in the story. Pandora closes the vessel before it leaves, producing the famous ambiguity over whether hope is preserved for humans or withheld from them.