In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, what did Zeus send to Epimetheus?

In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, Zeus sent Pandora to Epimetheus. Epimetheus is Prometheus’s brother, and Zeus uses Pandora’s arrival as part of the punishment for Prometheus’s theft of fire.

Prometheus had warned Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus. Despite that warning, Epimetheus welcomed Pandora, whose name means “all-gifted.” She brought the sealed container that Zeus had entrusted to her, and her later opening of it released troubles into the human world.

The myth’s structure contrasts the brothers: Prometheus is associated with foresight, while Epimetheus is associated with hindsight or thinking afterward. Their names reinforce that contrast in Greek, although the story’s moral is more complex than a simple warning against women or curiosity.

Hesiod’s Works and Days presents Pandora as a punishment imposed on humanity through Epimetheus. The story does not originally call the container a box; that familiar wording developed through later translation and retelling.