Hesiod first told the Pandora story in detail in Works and Days.
Hesiod was an early Greek poet who probably lived around the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Works and Days presents Pandora as part of Zeus’s punishment for humanity after Prometheus took fire from the gods. Hesiod also mentions Pandora in Theogony, although the fuller account appears in Works and Days.
The story is often treated as a single myth, but Hesiod’s two poems differ in emphasis. Theogony focuses on the creation of woman as a source of trouble, while Works and Days gives the narrative of the sealed vessel and the release of human hardships.
Hesiod is traditionally grouped with Homer as one of archaic Greece’s foundational poets. Unlike Homeric epic, Works and Days also contains practical advice about farming, seafaring, justice, and household conduct.