In Greek mythology, Pandora is generally described as the first woman created by the gods. Hesiod introduces her as a divinely fashioned figure whose arrival forms part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity.
The account appears in Hesiod’s Works and Days and is also discussed in the Theogony. The gods give Pandora different attributes, and the story connects her creation with Prometheus’s theft of fire. She is therefore not merely the owner of the famous container; she is a central figure in a myth about the origin of human suffering.
“First woman” is a description within this Greek myth, not a claim shared by every ancient Greek tradition. Greek mythology contains many goddesses and female figures, including Gaia, Hera, and Athena, but Pandora occupies the specific role of the first mortal woman in Hesiod’s narrative.