Which ancient Greek poem first tells the story of Pandora’s container?

Works and Days is the ancient Greek poem that first tells the surviving literary story of Pandora’s container.

The poem is attributed to Hesiod, who is generally dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Its subject is not mythology alone: it combines advice about farming, justice, work, household conduct and the structure of the human ages. The Pandora episode appears within this broader discussion of why suffering and hard labor affect human life.

Hesiod also discusses Pandora in the Theogony, but Works and Days provides the fuller account of the jar being opened and the troubles escaping. The two poems differ in emphasis and detail, so later retellings often blend material from both.

The Iliad and the Odyssey are traditionally associated with Homer and do not supply the canonical Pandora-container episode. Works and Days is consequently the key ancient source for the version most readers recognize.