In Hesiod’s Works and Days, which god fashioned Pandora’s physical form?

In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Hephaestus fashioned Pandora’s physical form.

Hesiod describes Zeus ordering Hephaestus, the divine smith and craftsman, to shape the first woman from earth. The episode treats Pandora as a deliberately constructed being rather than as a naturally born human. Other gods then add particular qualities, including clothing, adornment, and abilities, creating the composite figure whose name means “all-gifted.”

Hephaestus is especially appropriate for this task because Greek mythology associates him with metalworking, fire, tools, and the manufacture of divine objects. His role here is not to give Pandora every quality himself, but to make her bodily form under Zeus’s command. The gods’ separate contributions explain why later summaries often describe Pandora as receiving gifts from many deities.

The myth belongs to Hesiod’s account of why suffering and difficult labor entered human existence. It is therefore distinct from later artistic versions, which may show Pandora emerging from a vessel or being presented to the gods. Those images interpret the story visually but do not replace Hesiod’s description of Hephaestus’s role.