The Greek storage vessel described in Hesiod’s Pandora myth is a pithos.
A pithos was a large earthenware container used in the ancient Greek world to store commodities such as grain, olive oil, or wine. These vessels could be tall, heavy, and partly buried in the ground, making them very different from the small household box shown in many modern illustrations.
Hesiod’s Greek word is commonly translated as “jar.” Later Latin and European retellings helped transform the image into a box, and the phrase “Pandora’s box” eventually became standard in English. The original vessel was therefore a jar-like storage container, not necessarily a hinged box.
The distinction matters because the container’s scale affects the story’s imagery. Pandora releases forces that afflict all humanity from a vessel associated with preserving supplies. The words amphora, krater, and kylix refer to other Greek vessel types, but they are not the container named in this myth.