Hesiod wrote the Greek myth involving Pandora and the jar in Works and Days.
Hesiod was an early Greek poet generally dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Works and Days is a didactic poem about farming, justice, labor, and the proper organization of life. The Pandora episode appears within its explanation of why human beings must work and endure hardship.
Hesiod also wrote the Theogony, a major account of the origins and genealogy of the gods. The two poems are central sources for Greek mythology, but they present Pandora differently: Works and Days gives the fuller narrative, while the Theogony briefly refers to the woman and the race of women.
Hesiod is often compared with Homer, yet they are distinct poets. Ancient tradition sometimes grouped them together as foundational authors, but no reliable evidence proves that they were contemporaries or collaborators.