In Hesiod’s Pandora story, Epimetheus received the jar from Zeus despite Prometheus’s warning.
Epimetheus is the brother of Prometheus, and his name is commonly interpreted as “afterthought,” contrasting with Prometheus, whose name suggests forethought. Hesiod uses that contrast to explain why Epimetheus accepts Pandora even though Prometheus had warned him never to receive a gift from Zeus.
Pandora arrives carrying the container associated with the release of human troubles. Epimetheus’s decision allows Zeus’s punishment to reach humanity. The story therefore links the jar episode to the brothers’ contrasting qualities: Prometheus anticipates danger, while Epimetheus recognizes the consequences afterward.
Epimetheus is not the same figure as Atlas, the Titan condemned to hold up the sky, or Cronus, the older Titan ruler. Menoetius is another Titan brother in some genealogical traditions, but he is not the recipient of Pandora. These names belong to different parts of Greek mythology.