In the Pandora myth, evils escaped from the jar after Pandora opened it.
Hesiod describes the container as holding destructive forces that had previously been kept away from humanity. When Pandora opened it, these troubles flew out and spread among mortals. The story offers a mythic explanation for why suffering, disease, labor, and other hardships exist in human life.
The ancient account does not present the contents simply as one named object. It uses a collection of evils or troubles, which later artistic and literary traditions have represented as spirits, insects, smoke, or shadowy beings. Modern versions frequently compress the story into the idea that “all the evils in the world” escaped.
The myth is also a story about boundaries and consequences. Pandora’s action changes the human condition permanently, while the remaining element in the vessel receives a separate and much-debated interpretation.