What is the standard English name for the jar in Hesiod’s Pandora story?

The standard English name for the jar in Hesiod’s Pandora story is “Pandora’s jar.”

Hesiod uses the Greek word pithos, a large earthenware storage jar. Such vessels were used in the ancient Greek world for storing commodities including grain, oil, and wine. The physical object in the earliest surviving version is therefore not a modern hinged box.

The phrase “Pandora’s box” became much more influential in later European languages after a translation choice associated with Erasmus. Because “box” became the established expression, many retellings overlook the archaeological and linguistic sense of the original container.

Calling it Pandora’s jar helps separate the ancient text from later popular imagery. “Urn,” “chest,” and “casket” may sound plausible, but they do not describe the conventional English label for Hesiod’s vessel.