Which ancient Greek god is said to have shaped Pandora from clay?

Hephaestus is the ancient Greek god said to have shaped Pandora from clay. In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Zeus orders Hephaestus to create the first woman as part of the punishment connected with Prometheus’s theft of fire.

Hephaestus is the divine smith, famous for metalworking, craftsmanship, and the manufacture of extraordinary objects for the gods. His role in Pandora’s creation fits that artistic and technical identity. After shaping her, other gods contribute qualities or gifts, including skill, beauty, persuasion, and clothing.

The myth is not identical in every ancient source or later retelling. Hesiod’s account is the key literary source for the creation scene, while later artists and writers adapt the details. The clay-making motif also links Pandora with wider ancient stories in which a divine craftsman forms a human figure from earth.

Hephaestus is sometimes confused with Prometheus because both figures are associated with fire and human creation stories. In the Pandora narrative, however, Hephaestus performs the shaping, while Prometheus is the Titan whose fire theft triggers Zeus’s punishment.