In which Hesiod poem does the story of Pandora first appear in full?

Hesiod’s Works and Days contains the fullest early version of the story of Pandora.

The poem is a didactic Greek work about farming, justice, labor, and the declining ages of humanity. Within that broader discussion, Hesiod explains why human life includes suffering: Zeus has Pandora fashioned and sends her to humanity after Prometheus steals fire for mortals.

Hesiod also mentions Pandora in the Theogony, but that earlier poem gives a shorter account. The Works and Days version supplies more narrative detail, including the gifts given to Pandora and the opening of her storage vessel. This is why it is normally identified as the principal ancient literary source for the myth.

Modern retellings often call the vessel a box, but Hesiod’s Greek word is pithos, usually translated as a large jar. The familiar English expression therefore combines a Greek myth with a later translation tradition.