In the Greek myth of Pandora's box, the container was actually called a pithos.
A pithos was a large earthenware storage jar used in the ancient Greek world. It could hold grain, wine, oil, or other supplies. The ancient story did not originally describe a small wooden box. The familiar “box” wording arose later through translation and changing artistic traditions.
The earliest surviving literary account appears in Hesiod’s Works and Days, probably composed in the seventh century BCE. Hesiod says that Pandora opened a large jar and released troubles into the world. The Greek word pithos is important because it identifies the object as a practical storage vessel rather than a special magical box.
The title “Pandora’s box” became fixed in many modern languages, so readers often assume the original object had that shape. Both “Pandora’s box” and “Pandora’s jar” refer to the same myth, but pithos is the specific ancient term.