Zeus ordered Hephaestus to fashion Pandora in Hesiod’s story. The command followed Prometheus’s theft of fire, which Zeus regarded as a serious challenge to divine authority.
Hephaestus shaped Pandora from earth, while other gods supplied her with qualities and gifts. Zeus then arranged for her to be given to Epimetheus. The sequence presents Pandora as part of a deliberate divine plan rather than as an accidental source of trouble.
Zeus is the ruler of the Olympian gods in this myth, so his role is central to the punishment. Prometheus is often the more sympathetic figure in modern retellings, but Zeus initiates the response and determines the consequences for humanity.
Some modern versions simplify the story by saying that Zeus personally made Pandora. The ancient account distinguishes the planner from the craftsman: Zeus commands the creation, while Hephaestus performs the physical fashioning.