In Greek mythology, what punishment led Zeus to create Pandora?

In Greek mythology, Prometheus’s theft of fire led Zeus to create Pandora as a punishment for humanity. Prometheus had taken fire from the gods and given it to humans, helping them gain a powerful divine resource.

Zeus responds by arranging the creation of Pandora, who is presented as a gift to Epimetheus. The myth thus links two episodes: Prometheus’s benefit to humans and Zeus’s punishment of humans through the arrival of Pandora and the opening of her container.

The story is not simply about curiosity in isolation. In Hesiod’s version, Pandora’s creation is part of a divine retaliation that follows the conflict over fire. Later retellings often focus more heavily on the container and on the escape of evils, while giving less attention to Prometheus’s earlier action.