In Hesiod’s Works and Days, the vessel Pandora opened was a pithos. A pithos was a large Greek storage jar, commonly used for agricultural products such as grain, oil, or wine.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed later, although the oldest surviving literary account describes a jar rather than a small box. The Greek term pithos identifies the vessel’s general type, while translations sometimes use “jar” or “container.”
The change from jar to box is usually connected with later translation and retelling traditions. In Renaissance Europe, the Greek word was associated with a Latin term for a container that could be rendered as a box, helping establish the expression now used in English.
This distinction matters because the vessel’s size and function belong to the ancient setting. Pandora’s container was not necessarily a hinged household box like those shown in many modern illustrations; it was a substantial storage jar in Hesiod’s version.