In Hesiod’s Pandora story, Hermes gives Pandora a deceptive or crafty mind. Hermes is the Greek god associated with messengers, travel, trade, boundary crossing, and cleverness, making him a fitting figure for this part of the creation narrative.
Hesiod’s Works and Days presents Pandora as a constructed figure whose attributes come from several gods. Hephaestus forms her, Athena provides clothing and instruction in handiwork, and Aphrodite gives her charm. Hermes supplies a mind described in terms of shamelessness and deceit, as well as speech in the poem’s broader account of her endowment.
The exact wording varies among translations because ancient Greek terms can carry several related meanings. English versions may use “lying,” “deceit,” “a dog’s mind,” or “a crafty character.” “Deceptive or crafty mind” captures the consistent idea without depending on one translation’s phrasing.
Hermes is sometimes confused with the god who gives Pandora beauty or clothing. Those attributes belong to other divine figures in Hesiod’s account, while Hermes’s contribution concerns her speech and deceptive intelligence.