In the Greek myth of Pandora’s jar, Pandora opened the container. Hesiod’s Works and Days says that she removed the jar’s cover, allowing the troubles held inside to spread among humanity.
The familiar expression “Pandora’s box” is based on this episode, although the earliest surviving version describes a pithos, a large storage jar, rather than a small box. Pandora’s action is central to the myth’s explanation of why human life contains suffering and hardship.
The story does not present her as deliberately malicious. Later retellings often emphasize curiosity, but Hesiod’s account is more focused on the gods’ plan and the consequences of opening the vessel.
The myth also says that one thing remained inside after the troubles escaped. That surviving element became a major part of later interpretations of the story.