Translation inaccuracies: why Pandora's jug was called a box for 500 years

Linguists are well aware of how difficult it is to translate from one language to another. Especially when it comes to some very ancient language. The probability of inaccuracy or distortion of the fact is very high. A similar situation occurred with the famous "Pandora's Box", which actually turned out to be a completely different subject, and scientists noticed this only after five hundred years.

According to Greek mythology, Pandora got a unique artifact as a dowry with a strict order to never open it under any circumstances. However, a curious girl could not resist and decided to look inside with at least one eye. As soon as she opened the gift, all the troubles and vices of this world rushed into the world. Frightened, she let go of the lid, and it closed the vessel again, but, as it turned out, it was too late. Firstly, all the evil turned out to be outside, and secondly, inside the vault, at the very bottom, hope remained locked.

To designate a vessel in the original version of the myth, the ancient Greek writer Hesiod used the word pithos (Greek pithos), meaning a large clay jug in which various products were previously stored, and also used for burial. However, when in the 16th century the poem was translated into Latin, the person who was doing this thought that the author was mistaken and actually meant the word puxis, which just translates from Greek as "box". Thus, due to one oversight of the translator, the famous Pythos of Pandora was considered a box for hundreds of years.

But how did the ill-fated artifact fall into the hands of Pandora? According to legend, the girl became an instrument of revenge on all people and Prometheus, who stole the divine fire and gave it to mere mortals. It was the angry gods who created the beautiful Pandora, who became the wife of Epimetheus (the younger brother of Prometheus), and they subsequently slipped her a vessel with all the troubles and diseases, thus severely punishing people for their deeds.