In Hesiod’s Theogony, Hephaestus fashions Pandora from earth and water.
Hesiod describes Pandora as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus stole fire. Zeus orders Hephaestus, the divine craftsman, to shape a woman from earth. Other gods then contribute gifts or qualities, helping explain her name, which is commonly interpreted as “all-gifted.”
This detail is sometimes confused with later retellings that assign the whole creation to Zeus or portray Pandora as emerging fully formed from a container. In Hesiod’s account, the making of Pandora is a collaborative divine episode, but Hephaestus is the craftsman who physically fashions her.
The Theogony gives an early version of the story, while Works and Days provides the more extended narrative of Pandora’s arrival among humans and the opening of her storage jar.