In the Pandora myth, Prometheus gave fire to humanity before Zeus sent Pandora.
Prometheus is a Titan known for helping humans. In the mythic tradition summarized by Hesiod, he deceives Zeus during a sacrifice and later steals fire for humanity. Zeus responds by arranging a punishment that includes the creation and delivery of Pandora, the first woman in Hesiod’s account.
Prometheus’s role helps explain why Pandora appears in the story. Her arrival is not an unrelated domestic episode; it is presented as part of Zeus’s retaliation against humanity and against Prometheus. The vessel she opens then becomes the source of human suffering.
Prometheus and Epimetheus are frequently mixed up. Prometheus is the fire-bringer and the figure associated with forethought. Epimetheus receives Pandora and becomes her husband. Their contrasting names and roles create one of the myth’s clearest paired relationships.