In Hesiod’s Works and Days, a jar held the troubles released by Pandora.
The Greek word traditionally translated as “jar” is pithos, a large earthenware storage vessel used in the ancient Mediterranean. Hesiod says that Pandora opened the vessel, allowing evils to spread among humans, while hope remained inside. The text does not describe the container as a small wooden box.
The expression “Pandora’s box” became famous because the Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus translated or popularized the Latin form pyxis, meaning box, in connection with the story. That wording gradually replaced the more literal image of a large jar in European languages.
This difference matters because the jar is part of Hesiod’s original imagery. Modern illustrations usually show a lidded box, but ancient Greek storage jars could be tall, heavy, and large enough for household goods or grain.