Hermes gave Pandora her voice and ability to speak in Hesiod’s Works and Days. Zeus ordered the gods to create Pandora, and each deity contributed a quality or adornment. Hermes supplied speech and also gave her a deceptive, crafty nature, according to the poem’s account.
Other gods contribute different features in Hesiod’s description. Hephaestus shapes Pandora from earth, while Athena teaches her crafts and dresses her. Aphrodite gives her charm, and the Graces and Horae add adornments. The result is a deliberately assembled figure whose beauty and persuasive qualities help make Zeus’s punishment effective.
Hermes is especially associated with communication, travel, trade, cunning, and boundary-crossing in Greek religion. His role here is not simply to make Pandora able to talk; it also connects her speech with persuasion and deception. Later retellings often simplify the creation scene and omit the individual divine contributions.