In Greek mythology, Pandora is traditionally regarded as the first woman.
Hesiod presents Pandora as a woman fashioned by the gods and sent to Epimetheus after Prometheus has stolen fire for humanity. The gods equip her with different qualities and gifts, making her a distinctive creation within the myth. Her arrival is connected to the gods’ punishment of humanity and to the release of suffering into the world.
Pandora’s role is sometimes loosely compared with Eve in the Book of Genesis because both figures are associated with the arrival of hardship. They are not the same character, however, and their stories come from separate traditions. Hesiod’s account is one of the earliest surviving Greek literary treatments of Pandora, while later writers and artists greatly expanded her symbolism.