What type of vessel did Hesiod describe Pandora opening?

Hesiod described Pandora opening a pithos, a large Greek storage jar.

The Greek word pithos refers to a substantial container used for storing commodities such as grain, oil, or wine. In Works and Days, Pandora opens this vessel and the evils inside escape into the world. The object was therefore not originally a small hinged box in the modern sense.

The phrase “Pandora’s box” became standard in European languages through translation history. Erasmus’s influential Latin rendering used the word pyxis, meaning a box or small container, and that choice helped establish the familiar expression. The translation was not a simple reflection of Hesiod’s Greek noun.

An amphora is another famous Greek vessel, but it usually has two handles and a more elongated form. A kylix is a drinking cup, and a krater is a mixing vessel. None is the container named in Hesiod’s account.