In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora is described as the first woman. Zeus orders her creation after Prometheus gives fire to humanity, making her arrival part of a divine punishment story.
The poem presents Pandora as a crafted figure rather than as a naturally born human. Hephaestus forms her from earth, and the gods supply her with beauty, clothing, skills, persuasion, and other qualities. Zeus then sends her to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus’s warning about gifts from Zeus.
Calling Pandora the “first woman” belongs specifically to Hesiod’s account and its later interpretation. Greek mythology contains many women and goddesses, but figures such as Aphrodite and Athena are divine beings with different origins and roles. Helen is a later mythological human figure, not the first woman in Hesiod’s creation story.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” comes from later retellings. Hesiod’s original story uses a large storage jar, and the first-woman detail appears within that broader account of how troubles entered human life.