The Greek vessel called Pandora’s “box” in the earliest surviving version of her myth is a pithos.
A pithos was a large earthenware storage jar used in ancient Greece and the wider Aegean world. Hesiod’s Works and Days uses the Greek noun pithos for the container Pandora opens. It was not a small hinged box in the original account.
The phrase “Pandora’s box” became dominant through later translation and retelling. Erasmus of Rotterdam is often credited with helping popularize the Latinized “box” wording in the sixteenth century, although the history of the expression involves transmission through several languages and editions.
This distinction matters because a pithos could be large enough for storage and could stand on the floor, unlike the compact box shown in many modern illustrations. The myth’s essential action remains the opening of the vessel and the release of troubles, regardless of the later English label.