Which ancient Greek poem links Pandora’s arrival with the origin of human toil?

Works and Days links Pandora’s arrival with the origin of human toil.

Hesiod’s poem presents Pandora’s story within a larger explanation of why people must work, farm, marry, and endure hardship. After Prometheus takes fire from Zeus, Pandora is created and sent to humanity, and the poem connects her arrival with the troubles that affect mortal life.

The Iliad and The Odyssey are attributed to Homer and focus mainly on heroic war and its aftermath. The Argonautica is a much later epic about Jason and the Argonauts. None is the early Greek poem that preserves the main Pandora narrative.

Works and Days is not simply a myth collection. It is also a practical and moral poem addressing farming, legal disputes, seasonal timing, justice, and proper conduct. Pandora’s episode helps frame those everyday concerns within a myth about the human condition.