According to Greek mythology, Pandora was created as the first woman. Her creation appears in ancient Greek poetry attributed to Hesiod, especially the Theogony and Works and Days.
The gods fashioned Pandora after Zeus decided to punish humanity following Prometheus’s theft of fire. Hephaestus shaped her from earth, while other gods supplied qualities, skills, or gifts. Her name is commonly explained as meaning “all-gifted” or “having all gifts,” reflecting the contributions of the gods.
Pandora’s story is sometimes described as the Greek equivalent of an origin story for human troubles, but the ancient texts do not use the modern phrase “Pandora’s box.” Hesiod describes a large storage jar, or pithos, which Pandora opened. The later box tradition helped create the familiar English expression.
Pandora is therefore not a goddess in the original myth. She is a mortal woman presented as the first of her kind, created by divine powers as part of Zeus’s punishment.