In Greek mythology, Pandora’s container was called a pithos in ancient Greek.
A pithos was a large storage jar used in the ancient Greek world, especially for commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. Hesiod’s account uses the Greek word pithos for the vessel associated with Pandora. The familiar English phrase “Pandora’s box” arose later through translation and artistic tradition.
A pithos was not the same type of vessel as an amphora, which usually had two handles and a narrower form. Nor was it a krater, a bowl used for mixing wine and water, or a kylix, a drinking cup. This material distinction matters because the original myth’s imagery involves a substantial storage jar, not a small hinged box.