In Greek mythology, Epimetheus receives Pandora as a wife after Prometheus warns him about Zeus’s gifts.
Epimetheus is the brother of Prometheus and his name is traditionally connected with hindsight or afterthought. Hesiod’s Works and Days says that Prometheus advised Epimetheus not to accept a gift from Zeus. Epimetheus nevertheless accepted Pandora, who had been sent by Zeus as part of the punishment connected with Prometheus’s theft of fire.
The episode emphasizes the contrasting characters of the brothers. Prometheus is portrayed as cautious and foresighted, while Epimetheus acts first and understands the consequences later. Pandora’s arrival brings the container whose opening releases troubles into the human world.
Some retellings make Pandora herself the central decision-maker from the beginning, but Hesiod’s narrative also gives Epimetheus an important role. The myth’s chain of consequences begins with Zeus’s gift, Epimetheus’s acceptance, and the household’s possession of the container.