Epimetheus was a Titan in Greek mythology who was responsible for bestowing gifts upon humankind. He was the brother of Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to humans. Epimetheus means “afterthought” or “late counsel”. His name indicates that he was created after his brother Prometheus.
In Hesiod’s Theogony, Epimetheus is the son of Iapetus and Clymene. In another version of the story, he is the son of Pandora (the first woman) and Prometheus (who also fathered Atlas). Epimetheus and his brother Prometheus were tasked with populating the earth with animals. To do this, they had to ask Zeus for each animal’s gift. For example, for horses they asked for swiftness; for bulls, strength; etc. Unfortunately, when they got to humankind, by then there were no more gifts left. So all humans got was fire (stolen from Zeus by Prometheus).
According to some versions of the myth, Pandora herself was made by Hephaestus out of clay at Athena’s request as a punishment for mortals after Prometheus stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to humanity against Zeus’ will.
The Roman poet Ovid makes reference to an earlier version of the myth in which Pyrrha (daughter of Pandora) and Deucalion are told by Hermes how to repopulate Earth with stones thrown over their shoulders after all life on Earth has been destroyed by a great flood sent by Zeus as punishment for humans’ arrogance..