In the Greek myth of Pandora’s box, Pandora’s original vessel was a jar.
The Greek text associated with Hesiod uses the word pithos, meaning a large storage jar. These containers were used in the ancient Mediterranean for holding commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. The vessel in the myth was therefore much closer to a substantial household storage jar than to a small wooden box.
The “box” wording became standard through later translations and retellings. The Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus translated the Greek term in a way that helped establish the familiar idea of a box. That translation shaped the expression now used in English and many other languages.
The jar’s contents represent hardships released into the human world. Hope is traditionally described as remaining inside after Pandora closed the vessel.