What is the Meaning of Pandora’s Box?
To open Pandora’s box means to do something that starts a process that, once begun, results in many unforeseen problems that were previously covered up. To open Pandora’s box is to let things get out of control.
While most commonly used in the phrase ‘to open Pandora’s box,’ the term also serves as a standalone metaphor for any complex, contained source of potential trouble that, once disturbed, is impossible to reverse or fully contain again. Many different uses of the metaphor are possible.
It is also often used as a noun adjunct, as in “a Pandora’s box of litigation” or “a Pandora’s box of technical issues.”
Sentence Examples
“Every time I do spring cleaning, it’s like opening Pandora’s box, I just find more and more stuff to clean.”
“We tried to fix the advertising budget and it just opened Pandora’s box.”
“You have no idea of the danger you and your chums are in, do you?” “Is that right? And what would that be?” “You’ve opened Pandora’s box, you dumb prick, that’s why.” — The Bank Job (2008)
“They forgot all shame and honor and cast off the civilization and science we had created, and shut the lid of the Pandora’s Box they themselves had opened.” — Akira (1988)
“Good morning, Coach Carter.” Good morning.” “Quite the Pandora’s box you’ve opened.” “Oh, l get all the blame now?” — Coach Carter (2005)
“You know, this whole restitution thing began as a PR exercise. Austria wanted to improve its image abroad, but now it’s turning into a Pandora’s box. They don’t want to give away their treasures.” — Woman in Gold (2015)
“Do you realize what you’ve done, Floyd? You gotta be the dumbest man alive. You’ve opened Pandora’s box.” “You’re the one who came up with that biochemical agent. You’re the one who infected everybody.” — The Patriot (1998)
Origin of Pandora’s Box
The idiom is one of several common idioms arising from Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first mortal woman, created by Zeus, with help from other Gods, who gave her gifts. In fact, her name meant all gifts. One of those gifts was a box containing what was supposed to be a great treasure. Pandora was told to never, ever open this box.
While modern English speakers know this gift as a ‘box,’ in the original Greek of Hesiod, it was actually a pithos, a large, earthenware storage jar often used for wine, oil, or grain. These jars were frequently as tall as a person and were meant to stay in one place, making the image of a small, handheld ‘jewelry box’ a much later invention.”
The confusion here stems from a 16th century translation by Erasmus of Rotterdam. Translating the writings of Hesiod (c. 700 B.C.) Erasmus mistook the Greek pithos for a “pyxus,” a small box or storage chest. This simple mistranslation gave us the name “Pandora’s Box.” And, let’s be honest: Pandora’s jar just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Hermes then took Pandora to Epimetheus, and the two lived happily together for a time. Then, depending on the version of the story, either Epimetheus, after being warned not to, opened the treasure box, or, Pandora herself, overcome by curiosity, opened it.
All the miseries of the world flew out of the box, including hunger, disease, war, greed, anger, jealousy, toil, and every hardship man has ever known since.
Again, depending on the version of the story presented, once the flow of evils slowed a bit, she was able to shut the box. After the box was shut she heard a voice crying to be let out. She opened the box and out came hope, which is the only good gift the Gods had put in the box and the only thing which enabled mankind to withstand all the evils.
Regardless of the particular details of the story, one thing is the same: a box full of hidden evils was opened, and out flew many previously unknown troubles. This is the sense of the idiom, that when you ‘open Pandora’s box’ you are letting all sorts of previously unknown problems out into the light.
The Mystery of Hope: Blessing or Curse?
In almost every version of the story, after the plagues and miseries escaped, one thing remained at the bottom of the jar: Hope (Elpis). This creates a fascinating paradox that scholars have debated for centuries:
- The Traditional View: Hope was included as a mercy from the Gods—a “consolation prize” to help humanity endure the suffering that had just been unleashed.
- The Skeptical View: If the container was filled with nothing but “evils,” then Hope must also be an evil. In this interpretation, hope is a form of deceptive cruelty—a “false hope” that keeps humans suffering rather than accepting their fate.
Whether a blessing or the final curse, the presence of Hope is what gives the idiom its staying power. It suggests that no matter how messy or uncontrollable a “Pandora’s Box” situation becomes, there is always a lingering element of potential resolution.
Early Use: Thomas Cooper (1565)
The phrase began appearing in English during the mid-1500s. One of the earliest receipts is found in Thomas Cooper’s 1565 Thesaurus, where he refers to the box as a metaphor for a source of ‘sundrie evils and miiseryes.’ By the time John Milton used the imagery in ‘Paradise Lost’ (1667), the ‘box’ was firmly established in the English consciousness as the ultimate symbol of uncontrollable trouble.”
This is not to be confused with the English writer Thomas Cooper, who used Pandora’s box in his political epic, “The Purgatory of Suicide,” in which he proclaimed the principles of “Chartism,” the first mass working-class political movement in Britain (1838–1857). Cooper was imprisoned for his efforts:
In happy Eden — Eve, and glozing snalie :
Or myth more artificial of the land
Of arts and song — Pandora’s box, with ache
And boil and pestilence, by man’s rash hand
Unlidded — punishment for theft of brand
Yet another Cooper comes up regarding Pandora, Mary Cooper, who wrote an erotic novel published anonymously in 1742 titled The Secret History of Pandora’s Box. This book centered on the trope of describing female genitalia as a “Pandora’s box.”
John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, mentions Pandora several times in his writings, including a connection between Pandora’s box and Eve’s apple.
For instance, in “On the Harmony of Spheres” (1625-1632), he wrote, “The fact that we are unable to hear this harmony seems certainly to be due to the presumption of that thief Prometheus, which brought so many evils upon men.”
Here, he doesn’t mention Pandora explicitly, but her role is implicit, since she allowed these evils to escape into the world. In Milton’s era, Prometheus was often seen as a symbol of scientific overreach (the “Herculean effort” gone wrong), while Pandora represented the unintended consequences.
Furthermore, “In the Destruction of any Substance there can be no Resolution into First Matter.”:
“This is not the place in which to enquire too nicely whether Error escaped from Pandora’s box, for from the depths of the Styx, or lastly whether he is to be accounted on of the sons of Earth who conspired against the gods.”
He more famously referenced Pandora in Paradise lost where he compares her to Eve, saying:
Eve is more aorn’d
More lovely than Pandora, whom the Gods
Endow’d with all thir gifts, and O too like
In sad event
Milton was essentially using Pandora as a “pagan prototype” for Eve. In his view, both women were “endowed with all gifts” but ultimately brought about the fall of humanity through a single act of disobedience. This strengthens your point about the idiom’s malleability—showing how it was used to explain religious concepts. Milton’s comparison of Pandora to Eve was the ultimate literary bridge that helped solidify the idiom in the English-speaking world.
Further Reading: A Cluster of Consequences
- Herculean Task Once a Pandora’s box of problems has been opened, it often takes a Herculean effort to fix the damage. Explore the superhuman labors of Greece’s greatest hero.
- Sisyphean Task If the “Hope” left in Pandora’s jar is actually a final deception, then the human struggle might be more like the labor of Sisyphus—an endless, repetitive effort that never reaches the goal.
- Achilles’ Heel Pandora’s one vulnerability was her curiosity; for Achilles, it was his heel. Discover how even the most powerful figures in myth are defined by a single point of failure.
- The Midas Touch Like Pandora, King Midas was granted a “gift” from the gods that seemed like a treasure but quickly became a nightmare. Trace the origin of the king who turned his world into gold.
- Sword of Damocles An unopened Pandora’s box is much like the Sword of Damocles: a source of immense anxiety that hangs over one’s head, threatening to drop at any moment.