Hephaestus formed Pandora from clay in Hesiod’s Works and Days. Zeus commanded him to shape a woman from earth, and the other gods then endowed her with qualities, clothing, ornaments, and skills. This detail links Pandora to a broader ancient Mediterranean pattern in which a creator fashions a human figure from earth or clay.
The clay does not mean Pandora was a lifeless statue in the finished myth. Once formed, she receives divine gifts and becomes a living woman who can speak and act. Hesiod’s account emphasizes construction by many gods rather than creation by a single deity.
The story also parallels the myth of Prometheus, who is frequently described in later traditions as making humans from clay. Those traditions are not identical to Hesiod’s account, and the commonly repeated idea that Prometheus molded all humans does not appear in the same explicit form in every early source. Pandora’s clay origin is specifically stated in Hesiod’s narrative.