In the expression “Pandora’s box,” what does opening it traditionally symbolize?

Opening Pandora’s box traditionally symbolizes unleashing unexpected troubles.

The expression comes from the Greek myth of Pandora, whose container released evils into the world when she opened it. Although Hesiod’s original account describes a jar rather than a box, later translations and retellings popularized the familiar phrase “Pandora’s box.”

In modern English, the phrase is usually metaphorical. It describes an action that begins a chain of complicated, harmful, or difficult consequences that cannot easily be reversed. The “unexpected” element is important: the person who opens the box may not know what will follow.

A common mix-up is treating the phrase as a literal reference to a particular historical object. No archaeological box is involved; it is an idiom derived from mythology and later translation choices.