The Greek name of the large storage jar later called Pandora’s box is pithos.
In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Pandora opens a pithos, a substantial container used in the ancient Mediterranean for storing goods such as grain, oil, or wine. The poem does not describe a small hinged box in the modern sense. The vessel is better understood as a large storage jar.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” became established through later translation history. Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar, rendered the Greek vessel as a Latin term associated with a box or container, helping create the expression that became standard in European languages.
This translation difference matters because visual depictions often show Pandora opening a compact box. Ancient Greek pottery and later art vary widely, but the earliest literary source points to a pithos. “Amphora” is another Greek vessel name, yet it usually refers to a two-handled jar and is not the specific word in Pandora’s story.