In the earliest Greek version of the story, Pandora opened a jar rather than a box.
Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos, which refers to a large storage jar commonly used for grain, wine, or oil. The vessel in the myth held destructive forces that escaped into the world when its lid was removed. Later Latin and European retellings gradually transformed this jar into the familiar “box.”
That translation history explains one of the most common facts associated with the story. “Pandora’s Box” is now the universal English expression, even though “Pandora’s Jar” would be closer to the earliest wording. The modern phrase means an action that creates many unexpected problems.