Which Hesiod poem contains the earliest surviving Greek account of Pandora’s jar?
Answer
Works and Days
Hesiod’s Works and Days contains the earliest surviving Greek account of Pandora’s jar.
The poem is a didactic work from archaic Greece, usually dated to around the seventh century BCE. It combines advice about farming and justice with myths explaining the human condition, including the story of Pandora and the spread of suffering.
Hesiod also discusses Pandora in the Theogony, but the fullest narrative of her creation and the opening of the container occurs in Works and Days. The poem names the container as a pithos, which is why the ancient version differs from the modern phrase “Pandora’s box.”
The Iliad and the Odyssey are traditionally associated with Homer and do not provide the canonical Pandora episode. The Theogony is also by Hesiod, making it a plausible source to confuse with Works and Days, but the jar narrative is chiefly identified with the latter poem.