In the Greek story of Pandora’s box, what escaped after the jar was opened?

In the Greek story of Pandora’s box, human hardships escaped after the jar was opened.

Hesiod describes the container as holding evils or troubles that had previously been kept away from human life. When Pandora opened it, these afflictions flew out and spread among people. The myth offers a poetic explanation for why illness, labor, pain, and other difficulties exist in the human world.

The story is often summarized as “all the evils of the world escaped,” although translations differ in their exact wording. Some versions emphasize diseases, while others use broader terms such as miseries, sorrows, or hardships.

The myth is not a scientific account of disease or suffering. It is an ancient etiological story: a narrative intended to explain the origin of a condition of human existence. Its enduring image is the sudden release of hidden troubles from one container.