In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora was created as punishment for Prometheus’s theft of fire.
Prometheus took fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, allowing people to develop useful skills and technologies. Zeus treated this act as a serious challenge to divine authority. His response included punishing Prometheus and arranging the creation of Pandora as a hardship for human beings.
The Pandora story is therefore connected to the larger Prometheus myth rather than standing entirely alone. Hesiod presents the two episodes as explanations for why humans must work and suffer. Pandora’s arrival brings evils into the world, while the loss and recovery of fire explains another part of humanity’s relationship with the gods.
Different ancient authors tell the Prometheus cycle in different ways, and later writers often portray Prometheus more heroically. Hesiod’s version is especially important because it is the earliest surviving literary account connecting Pandora with Zeus’s punishment for the stolen fire.