In the original Greek version of Pandora’s story, she opens a pithos.
A pithos was a large storage jar used in ancient Greece, commonly for commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos for the container holding the evils or troubles that escape when Pandora opens it. The vessel was therefore a jar, not a small modern box.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed later through translation and literary reinterpretation. The Latin writer Erasmus is widely associated with translating or popularizing the container as a box, and that wording became standard in many modern languages.
The original vessel matters because it changes the visual scene. A large storage jar fits ancient household and agricultural life, while a compact box reflects later European storytelling. The expression remains “Pandora’s box,” but pithos is the specific ancient term used in the mythic tradition.