In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, the world’s evils were held in a pithos, a large storage jar.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” comes from a long-standing translation change. Hesiod’s Greek word is pithos, which normally means a large earthenware jar used for storing goods such as grain, wine, or oil. It does not specifically mean a small box.
The container is central to the story in Hesiod’s Works and Days. Pandora opens it, releasing sickness, toil, and other troubles into the human world. Hope remains inside after the lid is replaced, although the exact interpretation of that ending has been debated.
The box wording became especially influential after Renaissance writers and translators used Latin pyxis, meaning box or small container. That version became standard in many modern languages, while the original Greek image was a large jar.