In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora opened a jar rather than a box.
The Greek word used in the story refers to a large storage vessel, commonly translated as a jar or pithos. Hesiod describes Pandora removing the lid, after which the evils kept inside escaped and spread among human beings. The text does not describe the container as a small wooden box.
The “box” version became standard in many languages because of a later translation tradition. The Renaissance scholar Erasmus translated the Greek vessel as a Latin term meaning “box,” helping establish the phrase “Pandora’s box” in European culture.
This detail is one of the best-known differences between the ancient source and modern retellings. The story’s central image remains the same: opening a sealed container releases harmful forces that could not easily be gathered back inside.