What did Zeus instruct Hephaestus to do?
akannan Teacher Middle School I am going to make the assumption that the question is addressing Zeus’ response to being tricked by Prometheus and the mortals. Naturally, after such a loss of face, Zeus was not happy. Punishing Prometheus for his role in the deception involved chaining him to a cliff to have his liver eaten out each night by birds, only to have it regenerated in the morning, and the process continued. Punishing mortality for its role proved to be a bit more complex. Zeus instructed Hephaestus to create a woman of stunning beauty. His desire was to create the first mortal female in all of its glory, so that man could not help but feel an instant attraction to her. Hephaestus did so. After his creation, the gods instilled many gifts within her, so that any man would not only feel an instant attraction to her, but desire and covet her for himself. The last gift the gods gave to her was a jar, sealed shut. The woman was instructed to never open the jar. The woman’s name was
