The Greek poet who first described Pandora’s creation and the release of evils from her container was Hesiod. His account is the earliest surviving literary source for the myth.
Hesiod tells the story in two major poems, Theogony and Works and Days. Theogony briefly discusses Pandora’s creation, while Works and Days gives the fuller narrative involving Prometheus, Epimetheus, the container, and the arrival of suffering among humans.
Hesiod probably composed his poetry around the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. His works are among the most important surviving sources for Greek mythology, alongside the poems attributed to Homer.
The Pandora story is sometimes casually attributed to Homer because both poets belong to early Greek literary tradition. However, the surviving Homeric epics do not provide the classic Pandora narrative. Hesiod’s version is therefore the key textual foundation for later Greek, Roman, and modern adaptations.