In the original Greek myth, Pandora opened a pithos, a large storage jar, rather than a box.
The word pithos comes from Ancient Greek and referred to a substantial ceramic container used for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. Hesiod uses this term in Works and Days when describing the vessel that Pandora opened. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed later through translation and retelling.
The jar is often pictured as a small hinged box in modern illustrations, but that image does not match the agricultural storage vessel suggested by the Greek word. The myth’s central action remains the same: once the container was opened, harmful troubles escaped into the world, while one remaining presence stayed inside. The exact interpretation of the vessel’s contents has varied among translators and later storytellers. “Pithos” is therefore the most precise answer when the question concerns the original Greek object rather than the popular English title.