Pandora's Box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation in Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar (πίθος pithos) given to Pandora (Πανδώρα) ("all-gifted", "all-giving"), which contained all the evils of the world.
Today, the phrase "to open Pandora's box" means to perform an action that may seem small or innocuous, but that turns out to have severe and far-reaching consequences.
Read more about Pandora's Box: In Mythology, Etymology of "The Box"
Famous quotes containing the word box:
“[Let] the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated. Let the open enemy to it be regarded as a Pandora with her box opened; and the disguised one, as the Serpent creeping with his deadly wiles into paradise.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)