Pandora is the woman created by the gods in Hesiod’s Pandora myth. Zeus orders her formation as part of a punishment directed at humanity after Prometheus gives humans fire.
Hephaestus shapes Pandora from earth, and the gods add attributes such as beauty, craft skill, speech, and deceptive intelligence. Hermes leads her to Epimetheus, who accepts her even though Prometheus had warned him not to accept gifts from Zeus. Pandora later opens the storage jar and releases the troubles that affect human life.
Pandora is sometimes incorrectly treated as a goddess in the same sense as Athena or Aphrodite. In Hesiod’s account, she is a newly created mortal woman, although her construction and gifts are divine. Her name means “all-gifted,” reflecting the many contributions made by the gods before she enters the human world.