Hesiod wrote the earliest surviving account of Pandora opening her container.
Hesiod was an ancient Greek poet usually dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. His Works and Days contains the principal early narrative of Pandora, including her creation, marriage to Epimetheus, and the release of troubles from the jar.
Hesiod also discusses Pandora in the Theogony, but the account in Works and Days supplies the fuller sequence associated with the famous container. The ancient texts do not use the modern English phrase “Pandora’s box,” and the original vessel is generally understood as a pithos, or large jar.
Homer is another foundational Greek poet, but the surviving Homeric epics do not provide the standard Pandora episode. Sappho was a lyric poet, and Aristophanes wrote comedies much later. Identifying Hesiod helps separate the myth’s ancient source from later adaptations and translations.