Pandora was said to open a pithos, a large Greek storage jar, rather than a small box. Hesiod’s Works and Days uses the Greek word pithos for the container in the myth.
A pithos was a substantial ceramic vessel used in the ancient Greek world for storing commodities such as grain, wine, or olive oil. Large examples could be set partly into the ground, and their practical storage function differs greatly from the compact hinged box shown in many modern illustrations.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed through a translation history. The Renaissance humanist Erasmus translated the Greek container using the Latin word pyxis, meaning a box or small container, helping establish the expression that remains standard in English.
The jar detail matters because it changes the visual setting of the myth, but it does not change the story’s central theme: opening the container releases troubles into the human world.