Hesiod’s Works and Days first tells the story of Pandora’s creation and opening the jar.
The poem is an ancient Greek didactic work traditionally attributed to Hesiod, who probably lived around the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Its subjects include farming, justice, morality, and the difficult conditions of human life. The Pandora episode appears while Hesiod explains why humans must work and why suffering exists.
Hesiod also mentions Pandora in the Theogony, but that earlier genealogical poem gives a shorter account and does not provide the same complete narrative. The two poems are therefore closely related sources rather than identical versions.
Modern retellings often call the container a box, but Hesiod’s account uses a large storage jar. The familiar expression “Pandora’s box” developed much later through translation and popular culture.