Prometheus warned Epimetheus not to accept gifts from Zeus before Pandora arrived.
Prometheus’s name is linked with forethought, and the warning reflects his awareness that Zeus intended punishment after the theft of fire. He advises his brother Epimetheus to reject gifts from the Olympian ruler. Epimetheus does not follow that advice and accepts Pandora, who has been created and adorned by the gods.
The contrast between the brothers is one of the myth’s clearest structural features. Prometheus represents anticipation and resistance to Zeus, while Epimetheus is associated with action that comes too late. Their names and behavior reinforce that contrast.
The warning does not mean Prometheus knew every detail of the container’s contents. It shows that he distrusted Zeus’s gifts. Later retellings may simplify the episode, but Hesiod’s version makes the brothers’ relationship essential to the plot.