In the Pandora myth, Pandora opened the jar that released troubles into the world.
The story is preserved most famously by Hesiod in Works and Days. Pandora was given a sealed vessel and instructed, in later retellings, not to open it. Her curiosity led her to lift the lid, allowing the contents to escape. The myth presents this act as the origin of sickness, hardship, and other forms of human suffering.
Hesiod’s original wording describes a jar, not a box. The “box” version became dominant through later translations and adaptations, especially after the Renaissance. The change in container did not alter Pandora’s central role in the story.
In the best-known interpretation, hope remained inside the vessel. Scholars and translators have debated the precise meaning of the Greek word for hope and whether it was retained as a comfort or withheld from humanity. The basic sequence—Pandora opens the container and troubles escape—is consistent in popular accounts.