In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Epimetheus received Pandora as a bride from Zeus.
Epimetheus was a Titan associated with hindsight and was the brother of Prometheus. Zeus sent Pandora to him after Prometheus had taken fire from the gods and given it to humanity. Prometheus warned Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus, but Epimetheus ignored the warning.
Pandora’s arrival brings disaster into the human world when she opens the sealed container entrusted to her. Hesiod presents Epimetheus as the opposite of his more cautious brother: Prometheus thinks ahead, while Epimetheus acts and understands the consequences afterward. This contrast is reinforced by the meanings traditionally assigned to their Greek names.
Later retellings often describe Pandora’s container as a box, although Hesiod used the word pithos, meaning a large storage jar. The names Prometheus and Epimetheus therefore help explain the myth’s moral structure: forethought fails to prevent the event, while hindsight cannot undo it.