In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus before Pandora was made.
The theft explains why Pandora enters the poem as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity. Prometheus had helped mortals and, in Hesiod’s account, deceived Zeus during the division of an ox sacrifice. He later stole fire for humans, allowing them to cook, work metals, and live with a power associated with the gods.
Zeus responded by ordering the creation of Pandora, the first woman in Hesiod’s Works and Days. The myth therefore links fire, divine punishment, and the arrival of human suffering in one connected sequence.
Other ancient writers developed different versions of Prometheus’s story. Some later traditions emphasize his creation of humans or his long punishment on Mount Caucasus, but Hesiod’s account particularly connects his theft of fire with Pandora’s creation.