Hesiod tells the most complete surviving ancient Greek story of Pandora and her jar.
Hesiod was a Greek poet traditionally dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. His Works and Days describes Pandora’s creation, the opening of the storage jar, and the release of destructive forces. His Theogony also discusses Pandora and the consequences of Prometheus’s conflict with Zeus.
Homer’s epics are earlier or roughly contemporary in traditional dating, but they do not provide the full Pandora narrative commonly known today. Later Greek and Roman writers, artists, translators, and philosophers expanded or reinterpreted the story, yet Hesiod remains the key ancient source for its central plot.