In Greek mythology, Pandora’s original container was a large jar rather than a small box.
Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos for the vessel associated with Pandora. A pithos was a large storage jar used in the ancient Greek world for commodities such as grain, oil, and wine. Such containers could be substantial household or agricultural storage vessels, not portable jewelry boxes.
The familiar expression “Pandora’s box” developed because later translators and retellers rendered the ancient vessel as a box. The phrase became firmly established in European languages and remains much more common than “Pandora’s jar.”
This translation difference changes the visual image but not the story’s central event: Pandora opens the container, troubles spread into the world, and hope remains inside. Ancient Greek vase paintings and modern illustrations have consequently depicted the vessel in many different shapes.