In Hesiod’s account, Hephaestus used clay to mold Pandora. Zeus instructed the divine craftsman Hephaestus to create a woman, and Hephaestus fashioned her from earth before the other gods supplied her with gifts and qualities.
This detail places Pandora within a broader ancient idea of humans being formed from earthly material. The Greek word often translated as “clay” can be understood in connection with earth or soil, so translations may differ slightly in wording while describing the same basic material.
Hephaestus is the god of fire, metalworking, and craftsmanship, which makes him the natural artisan for the task. The myth does not say that Pandora was carved from marble or built from metal. Those materials belong to other artistic and mythological traditions, not Hesiod’s description of her creation.