In the Pandora myth, Prometheus’s gift of fire led Zeus to create Pandora as punishment.
Prometheus is a Titan associated with forethought and with helping humanity. In Hesiod’s account, he deceives Zeus during a sacrifice and later steals fire for humans. Zeus responds by devising a punishment that affects both Prometheus and humankind.
For Prometheus himself, Zeus orders him bound to a mountain, where an eagle repeatedly eats his liver. Because Prometheus is immortal, the organ grows back, making the punishment recurring. For humanity, Zeus has Pandora fashioned and sends her with a sealed container.
The relationship between Prometheus and Pandora is clearest in Hesiod’s Works and Days. Popular retellings sometimes treat the story as a simple tale about curiosity, but its original setting is a divine retaliation for the transfer of fire and related benefits to mortals.