In Hesiod’s account of Pandora, Zeus orders the creation of the first woman.
The command follows Prometheus’s theft of fire for humanity. Zeus seeks to punish both Prometheus and humans, so he instructs Hephaestus to shape a woman from earth. The other gods then add gifts or attributes, producing the figure named Pandora.
Zeus’s role is therefore different from Hephaestus’s. Hephaestus performs the craftsmanship, while Zeus directs the plan and later sends Pandora to Epimetheus. This division of roles is stated in Hesiod’s narrative and is frequently simplified in modern summaries.
The myth is not presented as a story about an accidental discovery. Pandora’s arrival is part of Zeus’s deliberate response to the conflict over fire. The jar episode then explains the arrival of human hardships, while the surviving hope provides the story’s most enduring symbolic image.