Which god shaped Pandora from earth in Hesiod’s creation story?

Hephaestus shaped Pandora from earth in Hesiod’s creation story. Zeus instructed the divine smith to form the first woman as part of the punishment connected with Prometheus.

Hephaestus was the Olympian god of fire, metalworking, and craftsmanship. His role in Pandora’s creation fits his traditional association with making extraordinary objects and figures. Pandora’s body is described as being fashioned from earth, giving the story a crafted, artificial origin rather than an ordinary birth.

Other gods then contribute qualities to Pandora. The account presents her as a composite creation: Hephaestus provides the physical form, while divine gifts supply attractiveness, speech, intelligence, and skills. This structure explains both her name and her status as a special divine construction.

Popular summaries often say simply that “the gods created Pandora,” which is accurate at a broad level but omits Hephaestus’s specific role. The smith god’s involvement is one of the myth’s clearest named details.