In the Greek myth of Pandora, Hesiod described a jar rather than a modern box.
The Greek word used in the relevant passage is pithos, a large earthenware storage jar. Such jars were used in the ancient Mediterranean for commodities including grain, wine, and oil. The vessel therefore belongs to the material world of large household or agricultural containers, not to the small wooden box suggested by the English idiom.
The expression “Pandora’s box” became established through later translation history. Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar, helped popularize a Latin rendering that led readers toward the idea of a box. Once that wording spread, artists and writers increasingly depicted Pandora opening a chest or box.
The jar detail is important because it shows how famous myths can change through translation. The central plot remains recognizable, but the object’s shape and scale are different in the earliest surviving literary account. “Jar” is consequently the most specific answer for Hesiod’s vessel.