In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, Prometheus warned his brother Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus.
Prometheus was a Titan associated with foresight and humanity. After he angered Zeus by helping humans, Zeus arranged for Pandora to be created and sent to Epimetheus as a deceptive gift. Prometheus understood that Zeus’s gifts could carry danger, so he advised Epimetheus to reject anything from Olympus.
Epimetheus, whose name is often explained as “afterthought,” ignored the warning and accepted Pandora. She later opened the container associated with the story, releasing suffering into the human world. The contrast between the brothers’ names and actions is an important part of the myth: Prometheus thinks ahead, while Epimetheus acts first and regrets it later.
Modern retellings often call the container a box, but Hesiod described a large storage jar. The warning itself comes from the broader Prometheus-Pandora sequence in Hesiod’s Works and Days, not from a separate adventure.