In Greek mythology, the surviving consolation in Pandora’s jar-opening story is hope.
Hesiod describes Pandora opening the vessel and releasing the miseries that affect human life. Hope is the sole presence left behind when the lid is closed. This gives the myth an ambiguous ending: humanity suffers from the released evils, yet some form of hope remains available.
The passage appears in Works and Days, where Hesiod connects the story with the origins of human hardship. Later writers and artists often simplify the episode into the reassuring idea that hope was deliberately preserved for people.
Translations differ because the Greek word elpis does not always map perfectly onto the modern English word “hope.” It can refer to expectation more broadly. The result is one reason scholars discuss whether the jar’s final occupant is clearly benevolent or intentionally uncertain.