In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus before Zeus punished humanity through Pandora.
Prometheus is the Titan most closely associated with helping humankind. In Hesiod’s stories, he tricks Zeus during a sacrificial division and later steals fire for humans. Fire represents practical knowledge, technology, cooking, craft, and independence from the gods. Zeus responds by withholding this benefit and then arranging a punishment that reaches humanity through Pandora.
The Prometheus story and the Pandora story are therefore linked, but they are not the same episode. Prometheus is punished directly as well: in later and especially Roman-era versions, he is bound to a rock while an eagle repeatedly eats his liver. Hesiod’s earliest accounts emphasize his conflict with Zeus and the consequences of his deception.
“Fire” is the canonical answer here, not a physical object such as a torch. The myth treats fire as a divine resource whose transfer changes human life and provokes Zeus’s retaliation.