In Greek mythology, Prometheus was punished after stealing fire for mortals, helping lead to Pandora’s creation.
Prometheus is a Titan associated with forethought, craft, and the advancement of human civilization. In the myth told by Hesiod, he deceives Zeus during a sacrificial division and later takes fire for humans after Zeus withholds it. Zeus responds by punishing Prometheus and arranging a separate punishment for humanity: Pandora and the jar of troubles.
The fire episode and Pandora’s story are therefore linked, but they are not identical events. Prometheus is punished personally, while Pandora is sent to humans as part of Zeus’s broader retaliation. In later Greek and Roman literature, especially Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound, Prometheus becomes an even stronger symbol of resistance and benefaction toward humanity.
Prometheus is not Pandora’s husband. That role belongs to his brother Epimetheus, whose name creates an intentional contrast with Prometheus’s forethought.