The large storage jar in Hesiod’s original Pandora myth is called a pithos.
A pithos was a substantial ancient Greek container used for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. These vessels could be large enough to stand on the floor and were practical household or agricultural equipment rather than small tableware.
Hesiod’s Greek text uses the word pithos when describing the container Pandora opens. The later phrase “Pandora’s box” arose partly through translation history, especially after the Renaissance scholar Erasmus rendered the vessel as a box in Latin.
A pithos is not the same as an amphora. Amphorae usually have two handles and were designed for transport, while pithoi were much larger storage jars. This distinction explains why ancient artistic depictions and modern illustrations can look very different.