Epimetheus accepted Pandora despite Prometheus warning him about gifts from Zeus.
Epimetheus is Prometheus’s brother in Greek mythology. Prometheus, whose name is associated with forethought, warns Epimetheus not to accept anything from Zeus. Epimetheus nevertheless receives Pandora, who has been sent as part of Zeus’s punishment.
The contrast between the brothers’ names is central to the story. Prometheus represents thinking ahead, while Epimetheus is associated with thinking afterward. Their opposing traits make Epimetheus’s decision an important part of the myth’s moral structure.
Later traditions sometimes make Pandora and Epimetheus the ancestors of humanity after a great flood, but that genealogy is separate from the basic story of the container and its contents. The earliest surviving accounts focus on Zeus’s gift and its consequences.