In Hesiod’s story, Zeus ordered Pandora’s creation. He wanted to punish humanity after Prometheus stole fire and gave it to mortals.
The myth presents Pandora as part of Zeus’s response to that act. Hephaestus shapes her, and other gods provide gifts or attributes before she is sent to Epimetheus. When she opens the vessel, destructive conditions spread among humans, completing the punishment associated with Prometheus’s theft.
Zeus’s role is sometimes obscured in modern retellings, which focus almost entirely on Pandora’s curiosity. In Hesiod, however, the episode is embedded in a conflict between Zeus and Prometheus. Pandora’s arrival is not an isolated accident but a deliberate divine action.
Greek mythology uses several names for Zeus’s authority, including Olympian ruler and king of the gods. In this story, his decision drives the creation of Pandora, the sending of the jar, and the consequences for human life. Pandora is therefore the immediate actor who opens the vessel, but Zeus initiates the chain of events.