The Greek word for the large storage jar in Hesiod’s Pandora story is *pithos*.
A pithos was a substantial ancient Greek container, commonly used for storing goods such as grain, oil, or wine. In *Works and Days*, Hesiod uses the term for the vessel from which troubles escape after Pandora opens it.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed through later translation and retelling. Erasmus’s Latin wording helped popularize the idea of a box, even though the Greek source describes a jar. The distinction matters because a pithos was a recognizable storage vessel in the ancient Mediterranean.
Not every large Greek container was a pithos. An amphora generally had two handles and a narrower shape, while a pithos was designed mainly for storage and could be much larger.