from Lempriere's Classical Dictionary: "Pandora"

Pandora. A celebrated woman, the first mortal female that ever lived . . . She was made with clay by Vulcan, at the request of Jupiter who wished to punish the impiety and artifice of Prometheus by giving him a wife. . . . The artful mortal was sensible of the deceit, as he had always distrusted Jupiter, as well as the rest of the gods, since he had stolen away fire from the sun to animate his man of clay . . . . [among the evil "gifts" released among mankind when her box was opened,] Hope was the only one who remained at the bottom of the box, and it is she alone who has the wonderful power of easing the labors of man, and of rendering his troubles and his sorrows less painful in life.