In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Zeus ordered Pandora’s creation as punishment for humanity receiving fire. Prometheus had stolen fire from the gods and given it to humans, angering Zeus.
Zeus’s response was not simply to remove the fire. He instructed Hephaestus to fashion a woman from earth and directed the other gods to give her qualities and adornments. Hermes then brought Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother, despite Prometheus’s warning not to accept gifts from Zeus.
The story presents Pandora as part of a divine retaliation against humanity. Hesiod’s version links the arrival of women, labor, and suffering to the consequences of Prometheus’s theft. Later retellings often focus primarily on the opened container, but the original myth begins with the conflict between Zeus and Prometheus over fire.