Hesiod first recorded the Pandora’s Box story in detail in his poem Works and Days.
Hesiod was an ancient Greek poet traditionally dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. His Works and Days presents the myth as part of an explanation for why human life contains labor and suffering. The story also appears in his Theogony, though the account in Works and Days gives the clearest narrative of Pandora’s creation and the sealed container.
Hesiod’s telling connects Pandora to the conflict between Zeus and Prometheus. After Prometheus gives fire to humans, Zeus arranges a punishment that affects humanity. The gods contribute different qualities and gifts to Pandora before she is sent to Epimetheus.
Later writers, artists, and translators expanded the story into the familiar “Pandora’s box” tradition. Homer is sometimes named because he is the best-known early Greek poet, but the surviving detailed Pandora account is associated with Hesiod.