In Hesiod’s Works and Days, a pithos holds the troubles released by Pandora.
A pithos was a large earthenware storage jar used in the ancient Greek world, often for commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. Hesiod uses this kind of container in the Pandora story, not the small hinged box familiar from modern speech. The vessel’s size and storage function fit the ancient setting of the poem.
The phrase “Pandora’s box” arose through a translation change. In the sixteenth century, the humanist Erasmus translated the Greek vessel with the Latin term pyxis, meaning a box or small container. That choice became influential in European languages. The original pithos is still central to scholarly discussions of the myth because it shows how a familiar expression developed from a different ancient object.