The Greek name for the large storage jar in the original Pandora myth is pithos. Hesiod uses this word for the container that holds the troubles later released into the human world. A pithos was a substantial earthenware vessel used in ancient Greece for storing goods such as grain, oil, or wine.
The term matters because “Pandora's box” is a later formulation. Desiderius Erasmus translated the Greek word into Latin as pyxis, a box or small container, and that translation became influential in European retellings. The familiar English expression therefore reflects a Renaissance wording rather than the vessel described in Hesiod.
A pithos would have been much larger and more utilitarian than the decorative boxes shown in modern illustrations. Some ancient storage jars were tall and imposing, and they could be partly buried for stability or coolness.
Knowing the original term also helps readers distinguish related Greek vessels. An amphora usually has two handles and a narrower shape, while a krater is a mixing vessel. Pithos specifically suits the story's image of a large container holding a world-changing supply of troubles.