Prometheus’s theft of fire led directly to Zeus’s punishment involving Pandora.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Fire represented practical knowledge, craft, cooking, and technological power, so the gift changed the balance between gods and humans. Zeus responded by arranging a separate punishment for humankind: Pandora was created and sent to Epimetheus.
Prometheus’s own punishment was different. Zeus had him chained to a mountain, where an eagle repeatedly consumed his liver, which regenerated. That episode belongs to the wider Prometheus cycle and should not be confused with Pandora’s vessel.
The connection between the myths is important because Pandora is not introduced as an unrelated character. Her arrival is framed as a consequence of Prometheus’s defiance. Later authors and artists often combine the two stories, but Hesiod’s account provides the key narrative link: stolen fire, divine anger, Pandora’s arrival, and the spread of troubles.