In Greek mythology, Prometheus’s theft of fire immediately precedes Zeus’s creation of Pandora.
Prometheus is a Titan who supports humanity and is famous for taking fire from the gods and giving it to mortals. Zeus responds by arranging a punishment for humans as well as for Prometheus. Pandora becomes the human-facing part of that punishment in Hesiod’s account.
The sequence is important because Pandora’s story is not an isolated tale about curiosity. It is embedded in the wider conflict between Zeus and Prometheus over the privileges and limits of human life. Fire represents technology, knowledge, and civilization, while Pandora’s arrival introduces a new source of hardship.
Prometheus is sometimes confused with Epimetheus, his brother. Epimetheus receives Pandora and accepts her, whereas Prometheus is the figure who steals the fire and warns his brother against accepting gifts from Zeus. The two names are related in the myth but refer to different actions and characters.