In Hesiod’s account of Pandora, Hermes gave her the power of speech.
Pandora’s creation in Works and Days is described as a collaborative act by the gods. Hermes, who serves as divine messenger and is associated with communication, is credited with placing speech in Pandora. The account also connects him with qualities of deception, making his contribution both communicative and morally ambiguous.
This detail matters because Pandora is not presented as a silent figure or an ordinary birth. She is deliberately equipped by the gods with attributes that make her socially compelling and capable of influencing others. Her speech is part of the divine design surrounding her arrival among humans.
Modern retellings often focus only on the container and omit these creation details. They may also assign all of Pandora’s traits to Zeus or Hephaestus, although Hesiod distributes them among several deities.