Who popularized the phrase “Pandora’s box” by translating the container as a box?

Desiderius Erasmus popularized the phrase “Pandora’s box” by translating the ancient container as a box. Hesiod’s original Greek account uses pithos, a large jar or storage vessel, not the word for a small box.

Erasmus was a Renaissance humanist and scholar whose Latin writings circulated widely across Europe. His translation choices helped shape later European retellings of classical mythology. The “box” wording became so familiar that it largely replaced the older jar image in everyday English.

The difference is not merely a modern illustration. A pithos was a substantial storage container used in the ancient Mediterranean, while a box suggests a smaller object with a hinged lid. Both versions preserve the central action: Pandora opens the container and releases the troubles inside.

The modern idiom now describes an action that creates many unforeseen problems. Its common meaning comes from the myth, but its most familiar object reflects Renaissance translation rather than Hesiod’s original wording.