According to Hesiod’s Pandora myth, hope remained inside the jar after the evils escaped.
In Works and Days, Pandora opens the container and releases the forces that trouble human life. The text then says that only elpis remained inside. Elpis is usually translated as hope, making hope the distinctive final element of the story.
The ending is debated. Some readers see hope as a blessing deliberately preserved for humanity. Others note that the Greek word can refer to expectation more generally, and that the myth does not plainly say whether hope was kept inside as a gift or trapped there. The ambiguity has encouraged centuries of philosophical and literary interpretation.
The ancient account also differs from many modern versions. It does not necessarily present Pandora as acting from simple curiosity, and it does not use the modern phrase “Pandora’s box.” Later retellings often turn the ending into a straightforward moral lesson: even when suffering spreads, hope survives.
This is why “hope” is the canonical answer, while ideas such as love, peace, or wisdom belong to other symbolic interpretations rather than Hesiod’s named contents.