According to the traditional Pandora myth, hope remained inside the jar after its other contents escaped.
Hesiod’s account says that destructive forces or troubles spread among humans when Pandora opened the container. The final item, elpis, remained inside after Pandora closed the lid. Elpis is commonly translated as hope, although scholars discuss whether its meaning in the ancient context is exactly the same as modern optimism.
The story has therefore produced two major interpretations. Hope may be a consolation preserved for humanity, or it may be another force withheld from humans by Zeus. The myth itself does not settle the later philosophical debate.
The expression “hope at the bottom of Pandora’s box” comes from this ending. Modern retellings nearly always treat hope as a positive gift, even though ancient Greek interpretations of the passage are more complex.