In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora’s container is described by the Greek word pithos.
A pithos was a large storage jar used in the ancient Greek world, commonly for grain, oil, or wine. Hesiod’s poem does not describe a small wooden box in the modern sense. The familiar “box” wording developed through later translation and retelling.
The Latin writer Erasmus helped popularize the box interpretation in the sixteenth century. His rendering used the Latin word pyxis, meaning a box or small container, instead of preserving the Greek pithos. English versions and popular culture then made “Pandora’s box” the standard expression.
The change matters because the original story’s image is a large household storage jar. The jar’s contents are the troubles released when Pandora opens it, while hope remains inside according to the usual reading of Hesiod’s account.