Hephaestus shapes Pandora from earth in Hesiod’s Works and Days. Zeus commands him to create the woman as part of the punishment connected with Prometheus’s theft of fire.
Hephaestus is the Greek god of fire, metalworking, smithing, and craftsmanship. His role makes him the natural divine artisan for fashioning Pandora’s body. After he forms her, the other gods contribute qualities or gifts, producing the figure whose name means “all-gifted.”
The creation scene emphasizes that Pandora is a constructed divine artifact rather than an ordinary mortal who appears independently. This detail also connects the myth to Hephaestus’s broader role as maker of extraordinary objects, armor, weapons, and beings.
Later retellings sometimes credit Zeus alone with creating Pandora or describe her as rising fully formed from the earth. Hesiod’s more specific account identifies Hephaestus as the craftsman who performs the physical shaping, while Zeus directs the larger plan.