In Hesiod’s original Greek story, a pithos held the evils released by Pandora. A pithos was a large earthenware storage jar used in the ancient Greek world for goods such as grain, oil, or wine.
Hesiod’s Works and Days does not describe Pandora opening a modern-style box. The Greek word is pithos, and Pandora lifts its lid, releasing troubles into the world while hope remains inside. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” arose later through a translation and transmission history rather than from the earliest wording of the myth.
The word “amphora” is another possible source of confusion because amphorae were also ancient Greek vessels, but they were generally narrower storage or transport jars with two handles. A pithos was much larger and commonly used for storage. Erasmus’s Latin translation helped establish the box image in Renaissance Europe, and that wording became far more familiar in English than the original jar.