Hesiod’s Theogony is the Greek epic poem that first describes Pandora as a woman created by the gods.
The Theogony is a poem about the origins and genealogy of the Greek gods. Near its discussion of Zeus and Prometheus, it introduces the creation of a woman as punishment for the theft of fire. Zeus orders Hephaestus to fashion her from earth, and the gods provide her with gifts.
Hesiod gives a fuller version of the jar episode in Works and Days. The Theogony’s account is shorter and focuses more strongly on divine genealogy and the consequences of Prometheus’s deception. Because the two poems overlap but differ in emphasis, readers sometimes merge details from them into one seamless narrative.
The poem is traditionally attributed to Hesiod, who is generally placed in the early archaic period of Greek literature. It is not one of Homer’s epics, and Pandora is not a character in the Iliad or Odyssey. The story belongs to Hesiod’s account of Zeus, Prometheus, and humanity’s troubled condition.