In Hesiod’s Greek myth, Pandora’s container was originally called a pithos.
A pithos was a large storage jar used in ancient Greece, often for grain, oil, or wine. Hesiod’s Works and Days describes Pandora opening such a jar, not a small box. The Greek word is commonly translated as “jar” or “storage vessel.”
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed much later because of a Renaissance translation and interpretation. The wording became especially influential in European languages, even though the earlier Greek story specifies a jar.
The container is central to the myth’s explanation of why suffering and other evils exist in the human world. Hope remains inside after the evils escape, although ancient and modern interpreters disagree about whether hope is meant as a blessing, a withheld comfort, or part of the punishment.