In Greek mythology, Zeus gave the created woman the name Pandora.
Hesiod presents Pandora as part of Zeus’s response to Prometheus’s theft of fire for humankind. Zeus ordered the gods to make and adorn a woman, and she was named Pandora because she received gifts from the gods. Her name is therefore tied directly to the circumstances of her creation rather than to a family lineage.
Pandora is sometimes described in modern summaries as the first woman, but that wording belongs to later interpretations and simplified retellings. Hesiod’s story is more specifically about the origin of women and the troubles associated with human marriage and labor. The myth also portrays her as an instrument in Zeus’s larger punishment of humanity.
The phrase “Pandora’s box” comes from a later misunderstanding or adaptation of the ancient container. Hesiod used the Greek term pithos, meaning a large jar. The central figure, however, remains Pandora: the woman whose opening of the container releases evils while hope remains inside.