According to Greek mythology, Prometheus gave fire to humanity before Pandora’s arrival.
Prometheus is a Titan who is especially associated with intelligence, craft, and foresight. In the myth told by Hesiod, he deceives Zeus during a sacrifice and later steals fire for humans, concealing it in a stalk of fennel. Zeus responds by arranging a punishment for humanity: the creation and arrival of Pandora.
Prometheus’s action makes Pandora’s story part of a larger sequence rather than an isolated tale. Pandora is presented as a consequence of the conflict between Zeus and Prometheus. Her opening of the jar releases hardships into human life, while fire represents technology and the benefits Prometheus brings to mortals.
Different ancient authors tell the Prometheus traditions in varying ways. The basic connection remains clear in the Pandora myth: Prometheus’s theft of fire comes first, and Zeus’s response leads to Pandora. Prometheus is also Pandora’s brother Epimetheus’s sibling, creating a family link between the two stories.