Which Hesiod poem says that Pandora’s evils spread after the vessel’s lid is removed?

Works and Days says that Pandora’s evils spread after the vessel’s lid is removed. The poem, attributed to Hesiod, contains the most complete surviving literary version of the episode.

In the narrative, Zeus has Pandora created as part of his punishment of humanity after Prometheus steals fire. The gods contribute different qualities and decorations, and Pandora is sent to Epimetheus. When she opens the vessel, the contained troubles escape into the human world, while hope remains inside.

Hesiod also mentions Pandora in the Theogony, but that poem offers a shorter description rather than the extended opening-of-the-vessel story. This distinction is useful because readers often attribute every detail of the myth to both poems equally.

The title Works and Days reflects the poem’s broader concerns with farming, justice, labor, and the difficult conditions of human life. Pandora’s story appears within that larger discussion as an explanation for why suffering exists.