In Hesiod’s *Works and Days*, what two materials does Hephaestus use to form Pandora?

In Hesiod’s *Works and Days*, Hephaestus forms Pandora from earth and water. Zeus orders the craftsman god to create a woman whose appearance resembles the immortal goddesses, but whose nature will bring hardship to humanity.

The detail appears in Hesiod’s account of Pandora’s creation, where divine craftsmanship gives the figure a human physical basis. The gods then add other qualities: Athena teaches her needlework, Aphrodite gives her grace, and Hermes supplies persuasive speech and a deceptive temperament.

Modern retellings often focus on the container and omit the creation scene. They also frequently call the vessel a box, although Hesiod describes a large jar, or pithos. The earth-and-water detail belongs specifically to the *Works and Days* version, not to every later artistic adaptation of the myth.