In Hesiod’s Greek myth, the first woman created by the gods was named Pandora.
Hesiod presents Pandora as a divinely fashioned woman sent to humanity after Prometheus’s theft of fire. Different gods contribute qualities or adornments to her, and her name is commonly interpreted as meaning “all-gifted” or “all-giving.” The name reflects the myth’s emphasis on gifts supplied by the gods.
Pandora’s creation is described in Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, although the two poems differ in detail and emphasis. Works and Days gives the fuller narrative of her arrival, marriage to Epimetheus, and opening of the container.
Modern retellings often call the object a box, but Hesiod’s earlier wording refers to a large storage jar. The woman’s name, however, remains Pandora in the ancient Greek tradition and in the phrase “Pandora’s box,” which became the familiar later expression.