In the Greek Pandora myth, Zeus orders Pandora’s creation. Hesiod describes her as part of Zeus’s punishment of humanity after Prometheus stole fire and gave it to mortals.
Zeus instructs the divine craftsman Hephaestus to fashion Pandora from earth. Other gods then contribute qualities, clothing, ornaments, or skills, creating a figure whose name means “all-gifted.” The story makes Zeus the authority behind the plan, even though several deities participate in carrying it out.
A common mix-up is identifying Hephaestus as the god who created Pandora. Hephaestus does shape her, but he acts on Zeus’s command. Prometheus is also closely connected to the story because his theft of fire provides the reason for Zeus’s retaliation, while Hermes helps bring Pandora to Epimetheus.
The account appears most fully in Hesiod’s Works and Days, an archaic Greek poem that connects Pandora with the arrival of suffering among humans.