In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, what does the name “Pandora” mean?

In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, the name “Pandora” means “all-gifted.”

The name comes from Greek words connected with “all” and “gifts.” Hesiod explains the name by saying that the gods gave Pandora gifts, making her a figure endowed by the divine community rather than by one creator alone. This meaning fits the poem’s account of her formation, in which different gods contribute qualities, adornments, or abilities.

The name is sometimes loosely paraphrased as “gifted by all,” but “all-gifted” is the standard concise translation. It does not mean that Pandora gave everything to others, and it is separate from the later popular phrase “Pandora’s box.” In Hesiod’s surviving accounts, the container is a jar, not a box.

Pandora appears in Hesiod’s Works and Days and Theogony. Her story explains a Greek mythological view of why suffering and difficult labor exist among humans, while her name preserves the story’s emphasis on divine gifts and craftsmanship.