The original container in Pandora’s myth was a pithos, a large Greek storage jar.
Hesiod’s Works and Days uses the Greek word pithos for the vessel. A pithos was a substantial ceramic container used in the ancient Mediterranean for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. It could be large enough to stand on the floor and was very different from the small hinged box shown in many modern illustrations.
The “box” wording developed through later translations and retellings. The Latin term pyxis, meaning a small box, helped shape the familiar image, and European artists reinforced it. The modern expression is now so established that “Pandora’s jar” can sound unusual even though it is closer to Hesiod’s wording.
Pithos is sometimes confused with amphora, another famous Greek vessel. An amphora generally has a narrower body and two handles, while a pithos was a large storage jar. The myth specifically identifies Pandora’s container as a pithos.