In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Prometheus stole fire for humans before Pandora appeared.
The theft is the immediate background to Pandora’s creation. Prometheus, whose name means “forethought,” had already opposed Zeus by deceiving him during a sacrificial division. He then took fire from the gods and gave it to mortals, allowing them to cook, work metal, and develop technologies associated with civilization.
Zeus responded by hiding the means of human survival and by arranging a punishment for both Prometheus and humanity. Prometheus was bound and subjected to an endlessly renewed torment, while Pandora was made as a beautiful but dangerous gift to humans.
Different ancient sources tell the fire story in varying ways, and later traditions add details such as the stolen flame being concealed in a fennel stalk. In Hesiod’s account, however, the key fact is clear: Pandora follows Prometheus’s theft of fire.