In Greek mythology, Hephaestus fashioned Pandora from clay under Zeus’s instructions.
Hesiod’s creation story presents Pandora as an artificial woman made by the gods. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the divine smith, to shape her from earth or clay, giving the episode a crafted, almost sculptural beginning. Other gods then contributed qualities or gifts that completed her appearance and social identity.
This detail is sometimes confused with the roles of Prometheus and Epimetheus. Prometheus is associated with creating or helping humanity in other Greek traditions, while Epimetheus receives Pandora. Hephaestus’s role in the Pandora story is specifically that of maker or fashioner.
The myth appears most fully in Hesiod’s Works and Days and Theogony. Pandora’s creation is part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus obtained fire for mortals, so the making of her is presented within a wider story about divine anger, technology, and human suffering.