In Hesiod’s myth, the gods gave the first woman the name Pandora.
The Greek name Pandora is commonly explained as meaning “all-gifted” or “all-giving.” In Works and Days, different gods contribute gifts or abilities to her creation, making the name a compact summary of her divine origins.
Hesiod’s Pandora is not simply an ordinary human woman. Zeus orders her creation as part of a punishment directed at humanity after Prometheus’s theft of fire. The gods fashion and adorn her, and Hermes gives her qualities associated with speech and deception.
A common mix-up is treating Pandora as the name of the jar. Pandora is the woman; the container is a pithos in Hesiod’s Greek. The phrase “Pandora’s box” became the standard English expression much later through translation history and popular retelling.