Hesiod described Pandora’s creation in the poem Theogony.
Theogony is an ancient Greek poem about the origins and genealogy of the gods. Hesiod’s account includes the creation of Pandora after Prometheus’s conflict with Zeus. Hephaestus forms her from earth, and the gods contribute gifts or qualities before Zeus sends her into the human world.
Hesiod also discusses Pandora in Works and Days, which provides the fuller narrative about the container and the release of human hardships. The two poems are therefore closely connected sources, but they serve different purposes: Theogony focuses on divine origins and relationships, while Works and Days combines myth with advice about labor, justice, and human conduct.
Hesiod is often mentioned alongside Homer as one of the earliest known Greek poets, but Pandora’s creation in these surviving literary accounts is associated with Hesiod. Later writers, artists, and filmmakers expanded or reshaped the story, producing the familiar modern phrase “Pandora’s box.”