In the Greek myth of Pandora, Hesiod originally described the container as a jar. The Greek word is pithos, a large ceramic vessel commonly used in the ancient Mediterranean for storing goods such as grain, oil, or wine.
The familiar expression “Pandora’s box” arose much later through a translation tradition. In the sixteenth century, the humanist Erasmus rendered pithos into Latin as pyxis, meaning a small box or container. That choice helped establish the wording that became standard in European languages, even though it does not match Hesiod’s original vessel.
This is one of the myth’s best-known translation shifts. Ancient Greek pithoi were substantial storage jars, sometimes large enough to stand taller than a person. The jar’s ordinary household character also fits the story: Pandora opens a vessel holding forces that were previously contained. “Pandora’s box” remains the accepted idiom, while “Pandora’s jar” is more faithful to the earliest surviving text.