The ancient Greek name for the large storage jar later transformed into Pandora’s box is pithos.
In Works and Days, Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos for the container associated with Pandora. A pithos was a large earthenware vessel used in the ancient Mediterranean for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. It was substantially different from the small portable box suggested by the modern English phrase.
The “box” wording became established through later translation and artistic tradition. A major influence was the Latin word pyxis, meaning a small box, which was associated with the story in later transmission. Renaissance artists and writers then helped popularize the familiar rectangular container. The shift matters because it shows how myths change as they move between languages and cultures. The jar remains the more accurate description for Hesiod’s original account, while “Pandora’s box” is now the standard idiom in English.