Prometheus warned Epimetheus not to accept Zeus’s gifts in the Greek myth associated with Pandora’s box. The warning highlights the brothers’ opposite personalities.
Prometheus is a Titan famous for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humanity. Zeus responds by arranging a punishment for mortals and by having Pandora created. Prometheus recognizes that gifts from Zeus may conceal danger, so he advises his brother Epimetheus to reject them.
Epimetheus does not follow the warning. He accepts Pandora, who has been sent to him by the gods, and the story proceeds to the opening of the sealed pithos. The contrast is reinforced by their names: Prometheus is traditionally connected with forethought, while Epimetheus is connected with afterthought.
Prometheus is not Pandora’s husband; that role belongs to Epimetheus. He is instead her brother-in-law in the mythic family relationship. The warning is one reason Prometheus remains central to retellings, even though Pandora herself performs the decisive action of opening the vessel.