In Greek mythology, the original container in Pandora’s story was called a pithos in Greek. A pithos was a large storage jar used in the ancient Mediterranean for commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. It was substantially different from the small hinged box shown in modern illustrations.
Hesiod’s Works and Days describes Pandora receiving a container that holds the troubles affecting human life. The text’s jar imagery fits the practical storage vessels known in ancient Greece. The story became associated with a box much later, especially through Renaissance-era retellings and translations.
That change matters because “Pandora’s box” is now the fixed English expression, even though “Pandora’s jar” would be closer to Hesiod’s wording. Archaeological pithoi could be large enough for storage and were often made from clay. The term pithos is therefore both a literary detail and an important clue to the myth’s original physical setting.