page_title: Pandora's box
hierarchical_section_title: Pandora's box
caption_attribution_description: English: Orientalizing pithos. Found in Arcades (?), Crete, ca. 675 BC. Terracotta, stamped and incised decoration. Français&#160;: Pithos orientalisant. Arcadès (?), Crète, v. 675 av. J.-C. Terre cuite, décor estampé et incisé. Hauteur&#160;: 1,56 mètre&#160;; diamètre&#160;: 87 cm.
context_page_description: Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's Works and Days. In modern times an idiom has grown from it meaning "Any source of great and unexpected troubles", or alternatively "A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse". Later depictions of the fatal container have been varied, while some literary and artistic treatments have focused more on the contents of the idiomatic box than on Pandora herself. The container mentioned in the original story was actually a large storage jar but the word was later mistranslated as "box".
context_section_description: Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's Works and Days. In modern times an idiom has grown from it meaning "Any source of great and unexpected troubles", or alternatively "A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse". Later depictions of the fatal container have been varied, while some literary and artistic treatments have focused more on the contents of the idiomatic box than on Pandora herself. The container mentioned in the original story was actually a large storage jar but the word was later mistranslated as "box".
caption: A pithos from Crete, c. 675 BC. Louvre
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