Works and Days is the ancient Greek poem that gives the fullest surviving Pandora narrative.
The poem is attributed to Hesiod and is usually dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. It combines practical advice about farming and seafaring with reflections on justice, work, human wrongdoing, and divine order. The Pandora episode appears as part of the poem’s explanation for the hardships that affect humanity.
Hesiod also refers to Pandora in the Theogony, but that work offers a shorter version of the episode. Works and Days describes Zeus’s role, the making of Pandora, the divine gifts she receives, and the opening of the storage jar. It also connects Pandora with the arrival of troubles in human life.
The poem’s title does not refer to a modern calendar or a list of daily tasks. “Works” concerns labor and conduct, while “Days” includes guidance about auspicious or inauspicious times for activities. The Pandora passage is one part of a much broader poem about living and working correctly.