frightened - pandora's box

after prometheus's theft of the secret of fire, zeus ordered hephaestus to create the woman pandora as part of the punishment for mankind. pandora was given many seductive gifts from aphrodite, hermes, charites, and horae. pandora had been given a large jar and instructed by zeus to keep it closed, but she had also been given the gift of curiosity, and ultimately opened it. when she opened it, all of the evils, ills, diseases, and burdensome labor that mankind had not known previously, escaped from the jar, although pandora was quick enough to close it again and keep one value inside: hope. we are not told why hope alone remained in the jar. there is no reason to think pandora acted out of malice in opening the jar, for she was exercising her curiosity, and also when she saw what was let out of it, she quickly closed it.