Hesiod’s Works and Days tells the story of Pandora and the origin of human troubles.
Works and Days is an ancient Greek didactic poem traditionally attributed to Hesiod. It combines advice about farming, justice, work, and proper conduct with mythological explanations, including the story of Pandora and the Five Ages of Man. The Pandora passage connects human suffering with Zeus’s response to Prometheus’s deception and theft of fire.
Hesiod also mentions Pandora in Theogony, but the fullest familiar account of her creation and the container appears in Works and Days. This is why identifying the work matters when comparing versions of the myth.
The title is sometimes written as Works and Days or Works & Days in English. It is not an epic narrative like Homer’s Iliad or Odyssey. Its practical and moral framework helps explain why the Pandora story appears alongside discussions of labor, justice, and the hardships of mortal life.