In Greek mythology, Pandora’s container was originally called a pithos, a large storage jar.
Hesiod’s Works and Days uses the Greek noun pithos for the vessel associated with Pandora. Such jars were used in the ancient Greek world to store materials including grain, oil, and wine. The word does not mean a small wooden box, which is the image most familiar to modern readers.
The “box” version developed from a Renaissance translation. The humanist Desiderius Erasmus rendered pithos with the Latin word pyxis, meaning a box or small container. That choice influenced the expression now used in many languages, including English.
The translation changed the object’s appearance without changing the central story: Pandora opened a sealed container and released troubles into the world. Ancient vase paintings and later artworks have therefore depicted the object in different ways, depending on the artist’s source and period.