According to Hesiod, hope remained inside Pandora’s jar after the troubles escaped.
In Works and Days, Pandora opens the container and releases the harmful conditions that had previously been kept away from humans. The text then says that only elpis remained inside. Elpis is usually translated as “hope,” although scholars discuss whether the word can carry broader meanings such as expectation.
The traditional retelling says that Pandora closed the jar before hope could escape. This creates the familiar moral image in which suffering spreads through the world, but hope remains available to humanity.
The exact mechanics are less clear than popular culture suggests. Hesiod does not provide every detail found in later versions, and interpretations differ over whether hope was intended as a comfort, a trapped resource, or part of Zeus’s larger plan. “Hope remained” is nevertheless the standard answer.