Pandora opens the forbidden container in Hesiod’s myth. Her action releases the many troubles that then spread through the human world.
Zeus sends Pandora to Epimetheus after Prometheus has angered the god by stealing fire for humanity. Although Prometheus warns Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus, Epimetheus welcomes Pandora. In Hesiod’s version, she eventually removes the lid from the vessel and lets the contained evils escape.
The myth does not present Pandora simply as a villain plotting against humanity. She is created and equipped by the gods, and the story is part of Zeus’s punishment of mortals and Prometheus. Later retellings often simplify the narrative into a cautionary tale about curiosity.
Once the troubles escape, Pandora closes the vessel. Hesiod says that only hope remains inside, a detail that has produced many different interpretations because the story does not plainly explain whether hope is a blessing or another withheld force.