The Greek word for the large storage jar in Pandora’s myth is pithos. A pithos was a substantial ancient Greek container used for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine.
Hesiod’s Works and Days uses the word pithos rather than a term meaning a small box. The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” developed later through translation and retelling, especially as the story moved into Latin and then modern European languages.
A pithos could be large enough to stand on the floor and was commonly made from ceramic material. Calling it a box creates a misleading mental picture of a small wooden container with a hinged lid.
The translation issue matters because the container’s original scale and function belong to the agricultural world of ancient Greece. The modern expression remains standard in English, even though “Pandora’s jar” is closer to Hesiod’s Greek wording.