Hesiod is the Greek poet who first records the story of Pandora in the surviving ancient sources. His poems Works and Days and Theogony provide the earliest extant literary accounts connected with Pandora’s creation and role.
Works and Days gives the fuller narrative. It describes Zeus’s plan to punish humanity after Prometheus’s theft of fire, the making of the first woman, the divine gifts bestowed on her, and the opening of the container that releases troubles into the world.
Theogony contains a shorter account and emphasizes the consequences of Prometheus’s conflict with Zeus. The two poems are important because they preserve different aspects of the myth and show how Greek mythic traditions could vary in emphasis.
Hesiod is traditionally dated to the late eighth or early seventh century BCE. Homer is another foundational Greek poet, but the surviving Homeric epics do not provide the detailed Pandora creation narrative found in Hesiod.