Hephaestus fashioned Pandora’s body in Hesiod’s account of her creation. Hephaestus is the Greek god of fire, metalworking, crafts, and skilled manufacture, making him the natural divine artisan for this task.
Zeus commands Hephaestus to shape Pandora from earth or clay. Other gods then add qualities to her, including beauty, craft, charm, and a deceptive mind. This collective creation explains the name Pandora: she is connected with gifts from all the gods.
The myth also creates a deliberate parallel with Prometheus. Prometheus gives fire to humans, while Hephaestus helps create the woman sent as a divine response. In later artistic traditions, Pandora is frequently shown as a beautiful woman emerging from the earth or being presented to the gods, although those images are based on later visual interpretations rather than a single ancient standard.