Which ancient Greek poem first records the story of Pandora’s creation and jar?

Works and Days is the ancient Greek poem that first records the story of Pandora’s creation and jar. It is attributed to Hesiod, usually dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE.

The poem is primarily concerned with farming, justice, labor, and proper conduct, rather than being a continuous mythological narrative. Pandora appears within its discussion of why human life includes toil and hardship. The story connects Zeus’s punishment with Prometheus’s theft of fire and explains the spread of evils among mortals.

Hesiod also mentions Pandora in the Theogony, but the fuller account of her creation and the jar appears in Works and Days. This distinction matters because later writers, artists, and translators reshaped the story. The title “Pandora’s Box” is especially influenced by later translation and interpretation rather than by the exact wording of Hesiod’s Greek text.