In the Pandora myth, evils escaped into the world when Pandora opened the container. Hesiod describes destructive troubles spreading among humans after the lid was removed.
In Works and Days, Zeus has Pandora brought to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus’s warning not to receive gifts from Zeus. Pandora then opens the covered container, releasing the afflictions that had been contained inside.
The myth presents these troubles as an explanation for why human life includes sickness, labor, and other hardships. Hesiod’s wording is broader than a modern list of named evils, so translations may differ in exactly how they describe what escaped.
The familiar English phrase “Pandora’s box” comes from a later translation tradition. Hesiod’s Greek text refers to a pithos, usually understood as a large storage jar, but the key event remains the release of evils into human life.