In Hesiod’s account, Hermes gave Pandora the gift of persuasive speech.
Pandora’s creation involves contributions from several gods. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, gives her a deceptive or persuasive voice in traditional summaries of Hesiod’s Works and Days. This gift helps explain why Pandora is portrayed as capable of influencing others, while her beauty and adornments come through contributions associated with other deities.
The details are often simplified in modern retellings into a single statement that “the gods gave Pandora gifts.” Hesiod’s account is more specific, assigning different roles to divine figures. Hermes is not the god who physically shaped Pandora—that role belongs to Hephaestus—and he is not the Titan who married her—that was Epimetheus. The allocation of gifts also supports the myth’s broader theme: Pandora is deliberately made attractive and compelling as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity.