Erasmus used the Latin word pyxis for Pandora’s container, helping shape the later expression “Pandora’s box.” Pyxis generally referred to a box or small container, unlike the large jar commonly associated with the Greek word pithos.
Hesiod’s Works and Days describes a vessel that modern scholars commonly identify as a pithos. Such jars were substantial storage containers in the ancient Greek world. During the transmission of the story into Latin and then modern European languages, the container’s description changed in ways that influenced later illustrations and idioms.
The difference is not merely a vocabulary curiosity. It explains why ancient-source discussions often say “Pandora’s jar,” while everyday English says “Pandora’s box.” Erasmus’s translation helped popularize the box form, and later cultural works reinforced it. The underlying plot remains recognizable, but the physical object in the earliest Greek literary tradition and the object in the modern phrase are not quite the same.