In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora’s vessel is originally described as a jar. The Greek word is pithos, a large earthenware storage container commonly used for grain, oil, or other supplies.
The phrase “Pandora’s box” developed later through translation and artistic tradition. The Renaissance humanist Erasmus translated the Greek term into Latin as pyxis, meaning a box or small container, helping establish the wording that became standard in many modern languages.
In the myth, Pandora opens the container and releases the evils that afflict humanity. Hope remains inside, although ancient and modern readers have debated whether hope is trapped in the jar or deliberately preserved for humans. The story therefore combines a mythic explanation of suffering with an enduring question about hope.
A pithos was much larger than the small decorative boxes often shown in paintings. Ancient Greek pottery and later European art gradually shaped the popular visual image.