Prometheus had stolen fire from Zeus before Pandora was created in the myth.
Prometheus was a Titan who sympathized with humanity. In the traditional story, he took fire from the gods and gave it to humans, enabling technologies such as cooking, metalworking, and craft. Zeus treated this act as a challenge to divine authority.
Pandora’s creation was presented as a countermeasure or punishment. Zeus ordered the gods to make a beautiful woman and sent her to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother. The story therefore links Pandora’s arrival directly to the conflict over fire.
Different ancient and later versions vary in detail, including where Prometheus obtained the fire and how the punishment unfolds. The central connection remains stable: Prometheus’s gift of fire precedes Pandora’s creation in Hesiod’s account.