In Greek mythology, what is Pandora’s vessel commonly called in English?

In English, Pandora’s vessel is commonly called Pandora’s box. The phrase now means a source of unforeseen troubles or complications released by an apparently simple action.

The wording is a famous translation and retelling rather than a precise reflection of Hesiod’s original object. Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos, generally understood as a large storage jar or vessel. Renaissance and later European traditions helped establish “box” as the standard English image.

This distinction is one of the most common facts people get wrong about the myth. The expression remains “Pandora’s box” because that form became fixed in English, even though ancient Greek pottery and storage practices make a large jar more historically plausible. The phrase is now used far beyond mythology in journalism, politics, science, and everyday speech.