In the Greek myth of Pandora’s jar, the container’s actual ancient Greek name is “pithos.” A pithos was a large storage jar used in the ancient Mediterranean, commonly for goods such as grain, oil, or wine.
Hesiod’s Works and Days describes Pandora opening a pithos, not a small hinged box. The English phrase “Pandora’s box” became standard later, partly because Renaissance translators and writers used “box” in ways that did not preserve the original vessel’s exact form.
The distinction matters because the container’s size changes how the story is imagined. A pithos could be a substantial household storage vessel, making the release of troubles a different image from opening a small jewelry box. The familiar English expression remains historically influential even though “Pandora’s jar” is closer to Hesiod’s Greek.