In Hesiod’s myth, Pandora’s body is molded from clay. In Works and Days, Zeus instructs Hephaestus to fashion a woman from earth, establishing the image of Pandora as an artificially made human figure rather than a naturally born goddess.
The clay detail connects Pandora with a wider ancient Mediterranean idea that human beings can be formed from earth. The creation scene also emphasizes divine craftsmanship: Hephaestus, the smith and metalworker of the gods, gives the figure physical form, while other gods add attributes and adornments.
Later retellings sometimes describe Pandora as being made from earth without specifying clay, or they borrow imagery from other creation myths. Those variations do not change the central Hesiodic detail. The material is not marble, metal, or ivory. Pandora’s construction from clay is also distinct from the jar associated with her story, whose material Hesiod does not make the central focus.