What is Pandora identified as in Hesiod’s Greek mythology?

In Hesiod’s Greek mythology, Pandora is identified as the first woman.

Her creation follows Zeus’s decision to punish humanity after Prometheus gave humans fire. Hephaestus forms her from earth, and the gods provide her with beauty, clothing, skills, and other attributes. She is then sent to Epimetheus, becoming part of the myth’s explanation for the presence of suffering in human life.

This description belongs specifically to Hesiod’s version and should not be treated as a universal feature of every Greek creation tradition. Greek mythology contains multiple stories about the origins of humans, women, and the world, often with differences between poets and later authors.

Pandora is also sometimes described in modern writing as a goddess, but Hesiod presents her as a mortal woman created by the gods. Her supernatural origin and divine gifts make her extraordinary, yet she is not one of the Olympian deities.