In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Hermes brought Pandora to humanity. Zeus instructed the messenger god to give Pandora a deceptive mind and a lying nature, then to lead her to Epimetheus as part of Zeus’s punishment of humankind.
Hermes was especially suited to this role because Greek mythology associates him with messages, travel, boundaries, trade, and deception. His involvement is one of several divine contributions to Pandora’s construction: Hephaestus made her, Athena taught her crafts, and Aphrodite gave her charm. The myth presents Pandora as a coordinated creation of the gods rather than the work of one deity alone.
Epimetheus accepted Pandora despite Prometheus’s warning not to receive gifts from Zeus. Hesiod’s story then moves to Pandora’s opening of the storage jar and the release of troubles. Hermes should not be confused with Prometheus, who brought fire to humans, or with Epimetheus, Pandora’s husband in the myth.