A pithos holds the evils in Hesiod’s Greek myth of Pandora.
A pithos was a large ancient Greek storage jar, commonly used for goods such as grain, wine, or oil. In Works and Days, Hesiod describes Pandora receiving a pithos containing the troubles that will affect humanity. The Greek word does not mean a small hinged box, which is why the original image differs from the familiar English phrase “Pandora’s box.”
The “box” wording became established through later translation history. The Latin writer Erasmus used the expression pyxis, meaning a box or container, when adapting the myth, and European languages helped spread that version. English readers eventually came to know the story primarily through the box image.
The pithos detail matters because it changes the scale and character of the object. It was a substantial household or agricultural vessel, not a modern jewelry box. The popular phrase remains correct as an idiom, but scholars generally identify Hesiod’s original container as a pithos.