In Hesiod’s Works and Days, the woman who opens the famous container is Pandora.
Hesiod presents Pandora as the first woman, fashioned by the gods after Prometheus stole fire for humanity. Zeus sends her to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, as part of a punishment directed at humans. Her name is usually explained from Greek elements meaning “all-gifted” or “all-giving,” reflecting the gifts supplied by the gods.
Pandora is not originally described as carrying a box. Hesiod’s Greek text says she has a large storage jar, or pithos, containing destructive troubles. When she opens it, these afflictions escape into the world, while hope remains inside. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” arose later through a translation tradition.
The myth is often simplified into a story about curiosity, but Hesiod’s account also concerns divine punishment, the origin of human suffering, and the complicated place of hope among those troubles.