Which ancient Greek poem contains the fullest surviving account of Pandora’s creation?

Hesiod’s Works and Days contains the fullest surviving account of Pandora’s creation.

Works and Days is an archaic Greek poem that combines practical advice about farming and justice with stories explaining humanity’s difficult condition. Its Pandora episode follows the conflict between Zeus and Prometheus and describes how the gods contribute to Pandora’s creation and adornment.

The poem is not exclusively about Pandora. The myth appears within a broader discussion of work, morality, social behavior, and the successive Ages of Man. This setting matters because Pandora functions as part of Hesiod’s explanation for why suffering and hardship exist in human life.

Hesiod’s Theogony also mentions related events, but Works and Days provides the better-known narrative sequence involving Pandora, her container, and the release of evils. The Iliad and Odyssey, attributed to Homer, are different poems and do not preserve the standard full Pandora story.