In Greek mythology, Hephaestus was instructed by Zeus to mold Pandora from earth.
Hesiod’s Works and Days presents Pandora as a constructed human figure made at Zeus’s command. Hephaestus, the divine smith and craftsman, shaped her from earth. Other gods then contributed qualities or gifts: Athena taught her crafts, while Hermes gave her a deceptive mind and speech in Hesiod’s account.
This detail helps distinguish Pandora’s origin from later artistic versions of the story. She is not usually described as a goddess born in the ordinary divine way; she is a deliberately fashioned woman whose arrival is linked to Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus’s theft of fire.
The myth varies between ancient sources and later retellings. Hesiod’s account does not describe a modern cardboard box, and the object is a storage jar. The familiar English phrase developed through later translation and adaptation.