The ancient Greek word describing the vessel in Hesiod’s Pandora story is pithos. A pithos was a large storage jar used for commodities such as grain, oil, or wine, rather than a small box in the modern sense.
Hesiod’s Works and Days uses the term pithos when describing the container associated with Pandora. The vessel is therefore closer to a large earthenware jar or storage container than to a hinged wooden box. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” arose later through translation and retelling.
This distinction matters because the image changes the scale and character of the myth. A pithos was a practical household or agricultural container, often large enough to store substantial supplies. Ancient Greek storage jars could be embedded partly in floors or kept in storerooms.
The word is sometimes transliterated with slightly different spellings, including pithos and pithoi for the plural. “Amphora” is a different vessel type, usually characterized by two handles and a narrower body, so it is not the precise term for Hesiod’s container.