In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Athena dresses Pandora in a silver-white robe. Her clothing is part of the elaborate preparation that makes Pandora appear beautiful and desirable.
The story presents Pandora as a divinely assembled figure. Hephaestus shapes her body from earth, Athena gives her clothing and teaches her crafts, and other gods provide ornaments, charm, and dangerous qualities. These contributions help explain the interpretation of her name as “all-gifted.”
Athena’s role is sometimes reduced to teaching Pandora weaving, but Hesiod also specifically associates her with clothing Pandora. Other divine figures supply jewelry and adornment, so the myth distributes her appearance among several gods rather than assigning it all to Athena.
The scene belongs to the broader punishment imposed by Zeus after Prometheus brings fire to humans. Pandora’s beauty conceals the calamity connected with her arrival.