In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods for humanity before Pandora appeared.
Prometheus was a Titan celebrated for intelligence, planning, and sympathy toward mortals. In the best-known version of the story, he took fire from the gods and gave it to human beings, enabling cooking, craft, and technological progress. Zeus punished him severely for this act.
Pandora’s creation is presented as a related punishment. Zeus sent her to humanity after Prometheus’s theft, and she was later accepted by Prometheus’s brother Epimetheus. The two myths are closely connected in Hesiod’s account of why human life includes labor, suffering, and limited resources.
Prometheus is sometimes described as Pandora’s husband in inaccurate summaries. That role belongs to Epimetheus. Prometheus instead functions as the benefactor whose theft of fire helps trigger Zeus’s retaliation against mortals.