In Hesiod’s Pandora story, Hephaestus used clay or earth to form Pandora.
Works and Days describes Zeus ordering Hephaestus to shape a woman from earth. Hephaestus, the divine craftsman and smith, then gives form to the figure before the other gods add their gifts. This creation scene parallels other ancient stories in which humans are fashioned from earth or clay.
Translations vary in wording, so readers may encounter “earth,” “clay,” or “soil.” These terms refer to the same basic material in the narrative and do not indicate a metal statue. Pandora is shaped as a living woman through divine action, not manufactured as a mechanical object.
A frequent mistake is to associate bronze with Pandora because bronze is prominent in Greek mythology and ancient technology. In Hesiod’s creation scene, however, the material is earth-based. The metal belongs to a different group of mythic and historical associations.