Pithos is the Greek word for the large storage jar later associated with Pandora’s box.
Hesiod’s account uses pithos for the container Pandora opened. A pithos was a substantial earthenware vessel used in the ancient Greek world for storing commodities such as grain, oil, and wine. Its size and practical function differ from the small box suggested by the modern English phrase.
The “box” wording became influential through a Latin translation associated with Desiderius Erasmus. He rendered the Greek term with pyxis, a Latin word for a small container or box. That choice shaped later European retellings and eventually established “Pandora’s box” as the standard expression in English.
A krater was a vessel for mixing wine and water, while an amphora was a two-handled storage or transport jar. Neither is the specific word used for Pandora’s container in Hesiod. The translation history explains why the popular phrase and the ancient description do not match.