In the Pandora’s Box myth, the earliest Greek account describes Pandora opening a storage jar. Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos, a large vessel commonly used for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine.
The “box” in the modern title arose through later translation and retelling. The Renaissance humanist Erasmus helped popularize the Latin phrase pyxis Pandorae, meaning “Pandora’s box,” even though the Greek source referred to a jar. That wording became standard in many languages.
Hesiod’s version does not describe a small hinged container like the one shown in many modern illustrations. The larger jar better fits ancient Greek domestic storage and the myth’s image of evils being held together in one vessel.
This detail is one of the most common mix-ups in the story. Saying “Pandora’s box” is conventional and perfectly recognizable, but “storage jar” is the more historically precise answer when referring to Hesiod’s original narrative.