Hesiod used the Greek word pithos for Pandora’s large storage jar.
A pithos was a substantial vessel used in ancient Greece for storing commodities such as grain, wine, or oil. In Works and Days, Hesiod’s wording refers to a pithos rather than a small box. The familiar English expression “Pandora’s box” arose much later through translation and artistic tradition.
The mistranslation is often associated with the Renaissance scholar Erasmus, who rendered the Greek vessel as a Latin pyxis, a box. That choice helped establish the image now used in English and many other languages. Ancient vase paintings and later illustrations consequently shaped two different visual traditions: a large jar in the textual source and a compact box in popular culture.
Pithos should not be confused with an amphora, which usually has two handles and a narrower form, or a lekythos, a smaller vessel often associated with oils. The vessel’s original scale matters because the story concerns a household storage container, not a jewelry case.