In Greek mythology, Pandora is generally regarded as the first woman. Hesiod presents her creation as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus gave fire to mortals.
The myth explains the arrival of women, marriage, and human dependence on agriculture through a strongly patriarchal ancient Greek viewpoint. In Works and Days, women are connected with the burdens of household life and reproduction, while Pandora’s arrival also introduces the troubles that affect mortals. Modern readers therefore study the story both as mythology and as evidence of ancient social attitudes.
Pandora is not simply an evil character in every interpretation. She is portrayed as beautiful, persuasive, and richly endowed by the gods, and the story’s central action is shaped by Zeus’s plan and Epimetheus’s decision. The designation “first woman” belongs to Hesiod’s mythic genealogy, not to a historical or scientific claim about human origins.