In the Greek myth of Pandora’s box, Pandora opened a pithos, a large storage jar.
The word “box” comes from a long-standing translation tradition, but Hesiod’s original Greek uses pithos. A pithos was a substantial earthenware container used in ancient Greece for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. Some pithoi were large enough to stand taller than a person and were often partly buried for stability and cooling.
The jar’s size and practical purpose help explain why the earliest version of the story does not describe a small household box. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” became standard in later languages, even though “Pandora’s jar” is closer to Hesiod’s wording.
The myth appears most fully in Hesiod’s Works and Days. Pandora removes the lid, releasing troubles into the world, while one thing remains inside. That surviving element is traditionally identified as hope.