In the myth of Pandora, opening the sealed container releases the evils inside it.
Hesiod’s story describes Pandora lifting the lid of the container, allowing the harmful forces stored inside to escape into the world. The account is usually summarized as Pandora opening the jar, although translations and later retellings vary in the exact wording and circumstances.
The action became the basis for the modern expression “to open Pandora’s box.” The idiom describes an act that begins a chain of complicated, harmful, or unforeseen consequences. It does not normally refer to physically opening a literal box; it is a metaphor derived from the myth.
The story is often presented as deliberate mischief, but the ancient text is more complex than many short retellings. Pandora is created within Zeus’s punishment of humanity, and the narrative reflects ancient Greek ideas about suffering, work, and the limits of human knowledge. The container is also frequently called a box, though Hesiod’s original term was a large jar.