In Hesiod’s Pandora story, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora as a punishment for humanity.
The command follows Prometheus’s theft of fire for human beings. Zeus retaliates by arranging the creation of a woman whose arrival will bring suffering and trouble to the mortal world. Hephaestus then shapes Pandora, while other gods contribute clothing, ornaments, speech, and personal qualities.
This detail is sometimes misunderstood because later retellings focus mainly on Pandora opening the container. In Hesiod, the opening is only one part of a larger divine plan. The story begins with the conflict between Zeus and Prometheus and explains Pandora as a punishment connected to that conflict. Zeus is therefore the commanding deity, while Hephaestus is the craftsman who carries out the physical creation.