In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, Hermes gives Pandora a deceptive or shameless nature. Hermes is the messenger of the gods and a figure associated with travel, trade, cunning, and trickery. His role in Pandora’s creation is part of a sequence in which different gods supply qualities to Zeus’s engineered punishment.
Hephaestus first shapes Pandora from earth at Zeus’s command. Other gods then make her attractive and provide clothing, jewelry, speech, and gifts. Hermes contributes the morally troubling qualities that help make Pandora a deceptive gift. The story’s emphasis is not that Pandora independently invents evil, but that the gods collectively construct the danger sent to humanity.
Translations differ in their exact wording. Some describe Hermes as giving Pandora a shameless mind, a deceitful character, or a lying nature. These phrases reflect different renderings of the Greek text, but Hermes remains the god identified with this contribution. Athena, Aphrodite, and the Graces are associated with other aspects of her presentation in the myth.