In Greek mythology, Pandora’s container was originally called a pithos, not a box.
A pithos was a large storage jar used in ancient Greece, typically for holding wine, grain, oil, or other provisions. Hesiod’s Greek wording describes Pandora’s vessel with this term. The familiar “box” comes from a later translation and retelling rather than from the earliest surviving Greek account.
The change in wording is often linked to the sixteenth-century Latin humanist Erasmus. His translation used the Latin word pyxis, meaning a small box or casket, helping establish the expression that became standard in European languages. The original jar detail remains important because it shows how translation shaped a famous myth.
Pandora’s container is also often confused with a modern household box. In the ancient story, it is a storage vessel, and Hesiod’s account says that hope remained inside after the other troubles escaped.