Hesiod first recorded the myth later known as Pandora’s Box in surviving ancient Greek literature.
The story appears in two poems attributed to Hesiod: the Theogony and Works and Days. Works and Days gives the fuller account of Pandora’s creation, her marriage to Epimetheus, and the opening of the storage jar that released troubles.
Hesiod lived in the early archaic period, generally placed around the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. His poems are among the earliest surviving Greek literary works, making his version the essential ancient source for the myth.
Homer is another early Greek poet, but the Pandora story is not primarily preserved in the Homeric epics. Later writers, translators, artists, and storytellers changed details, including the container’s description and the interpretation of hope.