Hesiod is the ancient author who first tells the story of Pandora’s jar in detail.
Hesiod was a Greek poet who probably lived around the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. His Works and Days gives the best-known version of Pandora’s creation, her marriage to Epimetheus, and the opening of the container that releases evils into the world. The Theogony also mentions Pandora and the consequences of Prometheus’s actions.
The poems are among the earliest surviving Greek literary works. Hesiod’s account is not identical to every later retelling: he emphasizes divine punishment, labor, and the difficult human condition rather than presenting the story simply as an adventure.
Homer does not provide the familiar Pandora narrative, while Ovid belongs to the Roman literary tradition and is not the source of the standard Greek account. Later writers and artists greatly expanded Pandora’s cultural afterlife.