In Hesiod’s account, the goddess Athena taught Pandora the craft of weaving.
Works and Days describes Pandora as a figure assembled and adorned through the contributions of several gods. Athena, the Greek goddess associated with wisdom and skilled crafts, teaches her textile work. This detail fits Athena’s wider mythological role: weaving was a major practical and artistic skill in ancient Greek society, and Athena was especially associated with it.
Other gods contribute different qualities. Aphrodite gives beauty and desire, while Hermes supplies deceptive speech and a disposition suited to trickery. These combined attributes make Pandora a divinely constructed figure rather than a character created by one deity alone.
Readers sometimes assume that Aphrodite gave Pandora every gift because Aphrodite is associated with beauty, but Hesiod distributes the gifts among several gods. Athena’s role is specifically connected with weaving. The episode also helps explain why Pandora is presented as both attractive and dangerous: her accomplishments and charms are part of Zeus’s carefully designed punishment.