Hesiod says Zeus gave Pandora to Epimetheus in Works and Days. The poem presents Pandora’s arrival as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus stole fire from the gods.
Epimetheus is Prometheus’s brother. His name is often interpreted as “afterthought,” contrasting with Prometheus, whose name is associated with forethought. Hesiod’s narrative uses this contrast when Epimetheus accepts Pandora despite Prometheus’s warning not to receive gifts from Zeus.
The account in Works and Days is the best-known ancient literary version of the jar-opening story. Hesiod describes Pandora opening a storage jar and releasing troubles among humans, while hope remains inside. The poem also gives a separate creation account in Theogony, but that version does not narrate the jar episode in the same detail.
Later writers and artists changed many elements, including the container’s shape and the relationship between Pandora and Epimetheus. The ancient source nevertheless identifies Hesiod as the poet who records this central version.