Prometheus was blamed for giving fire to humanity before Pandora’s creation in the mythology associated with Hesiod. He is a Titan known for intelligence, craft, and defiance of Zeus, and his theft of fire enables human civilization in later interpretations.
In Hesiod’s narrative, Zeus responds to Prometheus’s actions by arranging a punishment for humanity. Pandora is created and sent to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s brother. The stories of fire and the jar therefore belong to the same chain of divine retaliation.
Prometheus is sometimes confused with Epimetheus because both are brothers and their names are paired in the myth. Prometheus represents foresight, while Epimetheus represents afterthought. Prometheus does not marry Pandora or open the jar; his earlier conflict with Zeus provides the reason for the punishment that brings her into the story.