In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Zeus gives the first woman the name Pandora before she is sent to Epimetheus.
Hesiod introduces Pandora in the story of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus steals fire. The gods create and adorn her, and Hermes brings her to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother. Her name is usually explained as meaning “all-gifted” or “all-giving,” referring to the gifts supplied by the gods.
The story appears most fully in Works and Days, an ancient Greek didactic poem traditionally attributed to Hesiod. A related account also appears in Hesiod’s Theogony, though the details and emphasis differ.
Modern retellings often call the container a box, but Hesiod describes a large storage jar. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” became established much later through translation and artistic tradition.