In Hesiod’s account of Pandora, Hermes gave her a deceptive mind. The detail appears in Hesiod’s description of Pandora’s creation in Works and Days, where multiple gods contribute qualities to the woman fashioned at Zeus’s command.
Hermes is the Olympian messenger and a god associated with travel, trade, boundaries, and cunning. His contribution suits the story’s emphasis on ambiguity and deception, although later retellings often simplify the list of divine gifts.
Pandora’s name means “all-gifted,” reflecting the story that the gods collectively endowed her. The gifts are not uniformly benevolent: her beauty and adornment coexist with qualities that make her dangerous to the human household receiving her.
This detail is easy to miss because popular versions focus almost entirely on the opened container. Hesiod’s original narrative is more elaborate, presenting Pandora as a coordinated divine creation rather than merely a curious woman who finds a box.