Hesiod names a jar, not a box, in the original Greek version of the Pandora myth. The Greek word is pithos, a large storage jar used in the ancient Mediterranean.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” arose later through translation history. In the sixteenth century, the humanist Erasmus translated pithos into Latin as pyxis, meaning a box or small container. That choice helped establish the wording now used in English and many other languages.
A pithos was not necessarily a small household jar. Large examples could store grain, oil, or wine, and some were partly buried for stability. Artistic depictions therefore vary widely: modern illustrations often show a hinged box, while ancient imagery may suggest a substantial storage vessel.
The change from jar to box is a famous example of how translation can reshape a myth’s popular image without changing its central event: Pandora opens the container and troubles escape.