In Greek mythology, no god is said to have given Pandora a task to open the sealed vessel.
Hesiod’s surviving account describes Pandora receiving the container, but it does not state that a god ordered her to open it. The story says she was overcome by curiosity, or by an impulse to see what was inside, and lifted the lid herself. This detail is often simplified in modern retellings into a direct divine command.
Zeus is responsible for the broader punishment directed at humanity and for Pandora’s creation, but the text does not present him as giving an explicit opening instruction. Hermes also appears in Pandora’s creation story, yet he is not identified as the source of such a command.
The distinction matters because later paintings, children’s books, and films freely expand the myth. Hesiod’s version is much shorter and leaves several motives unexplained.