In Hesiod’s Pandora story, Hephaestus created the first woman from clay.
Hesiod describes Zeus ordering Hephaestus, the divine smith, to form Pandora’s body from earth. Other gods then gave her qualities and adornments, which explains the name Pandora, commonly interpreted as “all-gifted” or “all-giving.” Athena taught her crafts, while Aphrodite gave her charm; Hermes supplied a deceptive or persuasive character in the myth’s traditional account.
Pandora’s creation follows Zeus’s anger after Prometheus stole fire for humanity. The story therefore links her arrival with a divine punishment narrative rather than presenting her as an ordinary mortal born into the world.
Greek myths sometimes vary in details between authors and periods. However, Hephaestus’s role as the maker of Pandora is a stable feature of Hesiod’s account and is distinct from the gods who supplied her other attributes.