Pithos is the Greek word for the large storage jar traditionally identified as Pandora’s original container. Hesiod’s account uses this term for the vessel holding the troubles released into the human world. A pithos was a substantial ceramic container used in ancient Greece for storing goods such as grain, oil, or wine.
The distinction between pithos and box comes from translation history. Erasmus rendered the vessel with the Latin word pyxis, a box or casket, helping create the expression “Pandora’s box.” Later European art and literature adopted the compact box image because it was easy to depict and understand.
A krater was a mixing vessel, while an amphora was a handled storage or transport jar; neither is the standard term for Pandora’s container. The exact archaeological shape of the mythical vessel is not known, but “pithos” is the established word used in discussions of the ancient text.