Works and Days is the ancient poem by Hesiod that describes Pandora as a punishment after Prometheus stole fire. The poem combines mythological narrative with practical and moral advice about work, justice, farming, and proper behavior.
Its Pandora episode explains why human life includes hardship. Zeus responds to Prometheus’s deception and theft by arranging the creation of a woman who will bring troubles to humanity. The narrative then introduces Pandora’s container and the forces released from it.
Hesiod also discusses related material in Theogony, but Works and Days provides the fuller account of Pandora’s role in the human story. The two poems are among the most important surviving works of archaic Greek literature.
The poem’s title is sometimes rendered in English as Works and Days or, less commonly, Work and Days. “Iliad” and “Odyssey” are Homeric epics, not the source of the standard Pandora narrative. This distinction identifies the relevant Hesiodic text precisely.