In Greek mythology, Pandora received a jar rather than a box. The ancient Greek word is pithos, a large storage vessel commonly used for grain, oil, or wine. Hesiod’s account describes Pandora opening this container and releasing troubles into the human world.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” arose from a translation history. The sixteenth-century humanist Erasmus rendered the Greek vessel as a Latin pyxis, meaning a box or small container. That choice became influential in later European retellings, even though the earliest surviving literary version refers to a jar.
The jar detail is often treated as a minor curiosity, but it helps distinguish the original Greek story from its later artistic tradition. Ancient pottery and Renaissance illustrations sometimes show very different containers. The central image remains the same: opening a sealed vessel makes previously contained afflictions spread among humanity.