In Hesiod’s original Greek wording, Pandora opened a jar.
The famous expression “Pandora’s box” comes from a translation history rather than Hesiod’s actual container. In Works and Days, Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos, a large storage jar or earthenware vessel. The jar contains evils that spread among humanity after it is opened.
The “box” wording became established through later Latin translation. Erasmus used the Latin word pyxis, meaning a box or small container, in the sixteenth century. English and other European languages then popularized the box version, which is now much more familiar than the jar in everyday speech.
This distinction does not change the myth’s central event, but it does explain a common scholarly correction. A pithos could be a substantial household storage vessel, not a small modern gift box. The title “Pandora’s box” is therefore traditional, while “Pandora’s jar” is closer to Hesiod’s Greek.