In Greek mythology, Hephaestus crafted Pandora’s human form from clay at Zeus’s command.
The story appears most fully in Hesiod’s Works and Days, where Zeus orders Hephaestus to make a woman as part of a punishment connected with Prometheus’s theft of fire. Hephaestus was the divine smith, so the creation of a fashioned body fits his traditional role.
Other gods then contributed qualities or gifts. Athena taught Pandora useful crafts, while Aphrodite gave her beauty and charm. Hermes supplied speech and a deceptive character in Hesiod’s account. These additions explain why Pandora is presented as a composite divine creation rather than as a goddess born in the usual way.
A common mix-up is identifying Prometheus as Pandora’s maker. Prometheus is central to the surrounding myth because of his theft of fire, but Hephaestus is the craftsman who forms Pandora.