Hesiod first gives Pandora a detailed creation story in surviving Greek literature. His poem Works and Days describes the gods making Pandora and sending her to Epimetheus, while Theogony also mentions her role in Zeus’s punishment of humanity.
Hesiod probably composed his poems in the late eighth or early seventh century BCE, although exact dates remain uncertain. He is traditionally placed after Homer, and his works are among the earliest surviving Greek literary sources. Because the poems are ancient, modern editions differ in translation, line numbering, and choices about how to render key Greek terms.
Homer does not provide the familiar Pandora narrative in the surviving epics. Later Greek and Roman writers, artists, translators, and scholars developed the story further, helping create the standard image of a woman opening a box. Separating Hesiod’s early account from later embellishments helps explain why details such as the container’s shape and the meaning of hope are not always presented consistently.