In ancient Greek mythology, the craftsman god Hephaestus shaped Pandora from earth. Zeus ordered him to make the first woman as part of the punishment connected with Prometheus’s theft of fire.
Hephaestus was the Olympian god of fire, metalworking, sculpture, and the forge. His role in Pandora’s creation fits his traditional identity as the divine artisan who makes weapons, armor, automata, and other crafted objects for the gods.
Hesiod’s Works and Days describes Pandora as being fashioned from earth, after which the gods supplied her with gifts and attributes. This sequence explains why Pandora can be understood both as a crafted figure and as a recipient of divine qualities.
The story is not the same as the later Roman creation story of humans from clay by Prometheus. In Pandora’s Greek myth, Hephaestus is the craftsman who forms her, while Zeus directs the plan and other gods contribute gifts.