In Hesiod’s account, Hermes gives Pandora persuasive speech and deceptive words.
Works and Days presents Pandora as a composite creation. After Hephaestus forms her and Athena clothes her, the gods provide traits that make her compelling and dangerous. Hermes is associated with giving her a shameless mind and a deceptive nature, including speech designed to mislead. This contribution fits Hermes’s wider mythological associations with communication, cunning, boundaries, and trickery.
The passage is often simplified into the claim that Hermes gives Pandora speech. More precisely, Hesiod’s description links him with qualities of deceptive speech and a dishonest disposition. This distinction matters because Pandora’s danger in the story is not only physical: her beauty and persuasive behavior help make the divine punishment effective.
Hermes is not the craftsman who makes Pandora, nor is he the god who owns the jar. Those roles belong to Hephaestus and the myth’s broader divine plan. Individual retellings may omit the gift-giving details.