In Hesiod’s account, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to create Pandora.
The command appears in Works and Days, where Zeus responds to Prometheus’s theft of fire by planning a punishment for humanity. He instructs Hephaestus, the divine smith and craftsman, to shape a woman from earth. Other gods then contribute qualities, skills, ornaments, and deceptive attributes, producing the figure named Pandora.
The myth’s sequence places Zeus at the center of the punishment. Prometheus has helped humans by taking fire from the gods, while Zeus intends to impose a compensating burden on them. Pandora is consequently presented not as an accidental discoverer of a hidden container, but as part of a deliberate divine plan.
Hesiod’s account differs from later popular versions in tone and detail. Modern retellings often focus on curiosity and hope, whereas Hesiod’s original narrative is strongly concerned with divine retribution and the hardships of human life. Hephaestus performs the making, but Zeus supplies the order and purpose.