In Greek mythology, Pandora was described as being made from clay before receiving her gifts from the gods.
Hesiod’s Theogony says that Hephaestus fashioned Pandora’s body from earth and gave it human form. Many modern summaries render this material as clay because clay is the familiar moldable form of earth used in creation imagery. The gods then supplied clothing, adornment, speech, and other qualities.
This account belongs to a broader ancient tradition in which humans or humanlike beings are shaped from earth. The clay motif also appears in other Mediterranean and Near Eastern creation stories, though those traditions are not identical and should not be merged into one narrative.
A common mix-up is to treat Pandora as having been born biologically like an ordinary human. In Hesiod, she is an artificial creation assembled by divine craftsmanship. The later expression “Pandora’s box” also simplifies the older story’s vessel and can obscure the original creation scene.