In which work by Hesiod does the detailed story of Pandora’s Box appear?

The detailed story of Pandora’s Box appears in Hesiod’s Works and Days.

Works and Days is an ancient Greek didactic poem concerned with farming, labor, justice, morality, and the structure of human life. Its account of Pandora occurs during a discussion of why suffering and exhausting work affect humanity. Zeus’s punishment follows Prometheus’s theft of fire, making the myth part of a larger explanation of the human condition.

Hesiod also names Pandora in Theogony, another major early Greek poem, but Theogony does not give the complete opening-of-the-container episode. This distinction is a common source of confusion because both works come from Hesiod and both discuss the gods and the origins of aspects of human existence.

The poem’s title combines the Greek words for “work” and “days.” Its practical advice reflects a world in which farming, seasonal timing, justice, and household labor were central concerns. Pandora’s story is therefore more than an isolated fable about curiosity.