Hesiod first recorded the story of Pandora’s container in Greek literature.
The myth appears in Hesiod’s Works and Days, a poem generally dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Hesiod also mentions Pandora in his Theogony, although the two works present different details and emphases.
In Works and Days, Zeus has Pandora created as part of humanity’s punishment after Prometheus steals fire. The story connects Pandora with the arrival of suffering, disease, and exhausting labor among humans.
Hesiod did not describe a modern hinged box. His Greek word was pithos, meaning a large storage jar. The familiar “box” wording became standard much later, so readers often associate the myth with an object that is different from Hesiod’s original description.