In which poem does Hesiod describe Pandora as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity?

Hesiod describes Pandora as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity in Works and Days.

Works and Days is a didactic poem that combines advice about farming, justice, labor, and proper conduct with myths explaining the human condition. Its Pandora episode follows Prometheus’s theft of fire and presents her arrival as part of Zeus’s retaliation against humanity.

The poem is the principal ancient source for the familiar sequence involving Pandora, Epimetheus, and the vessel containing destructive forces. Hesiod also refers to Pandora in the Theogony, but Works and Days provides the longer narrative and the surrounding explanation of suffering and toil.

The title can mislead modern readers into expecting a purely practical manual. Hesiod’s work is both instructional and mythological, and its stories support broader arguments about justice, labor, and the consequences of violating divine limits. That context is important when separating the original poem from later simplified retellings.