Erasmus translated the Greek jar in Pandora’s myth into the Latin “box” that shaped the modern phrase.
The original Greek account uses pithos, a large storage jar. In the sixteenth century, the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus rendered the container with the Latin word pyxis, which refers to a box or small container. This translation helped establish the expression that became “Pandora’s box” in English and other languages.
Erasmus was a major Renaissance scholar whose editions and translations circulated widely across Europe. His wording influenced later retellings, even though it did not match the vessel described by Hesiod.
The translation is not the only reason the image changed. Artists and writers favored a compact, portable box because it was visually easy to show and symbolically clear. Consequently, the modern phrase is historically famous while being materially different from the earliest Greek version.