In which ancient Greek poem is Pandora’s story told most fully?

Pandora’s story is told most fully in Hesiod’s ancient Greek poem Works and Days. The poem combines advice about farming and justice with myths explaining the difficult conditions of human life.

In its account, Zeus has Pandora created after Prometheus steals fire for humanity. The gods decorate and equip her, and Hermes brings her to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother. Epimetheus accepts her despite Prometheus’s warning not to accept gifts from Zeus.

Hesiod also mentions Pandora in the Theogony, but that work gives a shorter account and does not provide the same extended narrative found in Works and Days. The poem is therefore the standard primary literary source for the familiar Pandora episode.

Works and Days is generally dated to the early seventh century BCE, although the exact date and details of Hesiod’s life remain uncertain. Its Pandora passage is an early surviving version of the myth, long before the familiar English phrase “Pandora’s box” became common.