In Greek mythology, which poem by Hesiod gives the fullest surviving account of Pandora?

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In Greek mythology, Hesiod’s Works and Days gives the fullest surviving account of Pandora.

Works and Days is an ancient Greek didactic poem traditionally attributed to Hesiod. Its Pandora episode explains the origin of human suffering after Prometheus steals fire for humanity. Zeus has Hephaestus make Pandora, and the gods contribute gifts before she is sent to Epimetheus.

Hesiod also mentions Pandora in Theogony, but that poem gives a shorter account. The two works are important because they preserve the earliest known literary versions of the myth, although they differ in emphasis and wording.

The poem is not simply a collection of myths. Works and Days also discusses farming, justice, seafaring, labor, and the proper organization of life. Readers sometimes identify Theogony as the main source because it is Hesiod’s best-known mythological work, but the detailed Pandora narrative belongs to Works and Days.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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