In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Prometheus steals fire for humanity before Pandora is created.
Prometheus is a Titan associated with foresight and with humanity’s acquisition of fire. Hesiod links his theft to a conflict with Zeus over the division of sacrificial portions. After Prometheus deceives Zeus and later takes fire for mortals, Zeus responds by arranging Pandora’s creation as a punishment for humankind.
Fire has practical and symbolic importance in Greek culture. It represents cooking, craft, metalworking, warmth, and the technological abilities that distinguish human communities. Later writers, especially Aeschylus, expanded Prometheus into a major champion of human civilization and attributed additional arts to him.
The fire episode is therefore directly connected to the Pandora story, but it is not the same event as opening the jar. Prometheus steals fire; Pandora’s arrival and the opening of the vessel form Zeus’s subsequent punishment in Hesiod’s sequence.