Hesiod describes Pandora as a punishment following Prometheus’s theft of fire.
Hesiod, an early Greek poet traditionally dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE, gives the earliest surviving literary accounts of Pandora. His Works and Days presents the story as part of Zeus’s response to Prometheus’s deception and theft of fire. The Theogony also refers to Pandora’s creation within its account of the gods and the human condition.
In Hesiod’s telling, Pandora’s arrival is connected with the spread of suffering among mortals. The story is not presented as a neutral creation myth; it explains why human life includes toil, disease, and other troubles while also presenting women and marriage through the values of archaic Greek society.
Homer is another foundational Greek poet, but the surviving Homeric epics do not provide the same full Pandora narrative. Hesiod is therefore the specific author linked to the earliest surviving written version of the story.