In Greek mythology, Pandora was originally given a jar, not a box. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” comes from a translation tradition that changed the ancient Greek word pithos, meaning a large storage jar, into “box.”
Hesiod’s Works and Days describes Pandora opening the container and releasing evils into the world. The story does not present the object as a small wooden box like those shown in many modern illustrations. Ancient Greek pithoi were large ceramic vessels used to store goods such as grain, oil, or wine.
The “box” version became especially influential after a sixteenth-century Latin translation by Erasmus. His choice helped establish the wording now common in English and many other languages. The myth therefore combines an ancient Greek story with a later translation choice.
This detail is often confused with the identity of Pandora herself. Pandora is the woman who opens the vessel; the container is the jar, while “Pandora’s box” is the later conventional expression.