In Greek mythology, elpis is the Greek word naming the hope left inside Pandora’s vessel. Hesiod’s Works and Days uses the term when describing the final element that remains after the evils escape.
Elpis is often translated simply as “hope,” but its interpretation in the story is debated. In ancient Greek, the word can refer to expectation or anticipation, not only to optimism. Some readers see its confinement as a gift that protects humanity; others see it as a troubling presence held back with the evils. The myth does not provide a single explicit explanation of the symbolism.
The wording matters because later English retellings usually say “hope” without preserving the original Greek term. The same tradition also changed Hesiod’s vessel into a box, producing the modern phrase “Pandora’s box.” Elpis is therefore the precise classical term behind the familiar final detail.