Language … Pandora’s Box

In Greek mythology, the god Prometheus stole fire from heaven to give to the human race, originally consisting only of men. To punish humanity, the other gods created the first woman, the beautiful Pandora. As a gift,  the god Zeus gave her a box, which she was told never to open.  Ignoring this adjuration, she opened it, and out swarmed all the troubles of the world, never to be recaptured. Only Hope remained in the box.

Thus, an object – or, in modern mores, a proposal – that looks ordinary, but which may yield a raft of unpredictable and intractable problems if used or deployed, is a “Pandora’s box.

An example of its use in modern idiom is:

“Adoption of these fiscal policies by government might open a Pandora’s box of inflationary wage claims”.