In Greek mythology, Pandora was fashioned by the gods as humanity’s first woman.
Hesiod presents her creation in Works and Days, where Zeus orders the divine craftsman Hephaestus to make her from earth. Several gods then give her qualities or gifts, helping explain the name Pandora, commonly interpreted as “all-gifted” or “gifted by all.” Her creation follows Prometheus’s theft of fire and Zeus’s desire to punish humanity.
Pandora is not simply a Greek equivalent of Eve, although both figures are sometimes compared in popular writing. The ancient Greek story belongs to a different religious and literary tradition, and its surviving versions vary in details. Hesiod’s account connects Pandora with the release of evils into the human world, while later retellings increasingly emphasize the container and the moral lesson. In modern usage, “Pandora” usually refers to the woman, whereas “Pandora’s box” refers to the source of unleashed troubles.