The Greek word for the large jar later mistranslated as Pandora’s “box” is pithos.
Hesiod’s Works and Days describes Pandora’s vessel with the Greek noun pithos. A pithos was a large storage jar used in the ancient Greek world for goods such as grain, oil, or wine. It was not the small hinged box shown in many modern illustrations.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed through later translation history. Erasmus used the Latin term pyxis, meaning a small box or container, when translating the story in the sixteenth century. That choice helped establish the expression that became standard in European languages.
The change affects how the myth is pictured, but not its central plot. Pandora still opens a container, and troubles escape into the world. “Pandora’s jar” is closer to Hesiod’s original wording.