In Greek mythology, hope is traditionally said to remain in Pandora’s jar.
According to the familiar version of the story, Pandora opens a container and releases many forms of suffering into the world. Hope remains inside, giving humanity a source of comfort despite the arrival of disease, toil, and other troubles.
The interpretation is complicated by Hesiod’s wording. In Works and Days, the container is described as a pithos, or large storage jar, and the Greek term elpis can mean expectation as well as hope. Scholars have therefore debated whether the jar’s retained contents are meant as a blessing, a trapped evil, or an ambiguous element.
The popular phrase “Pandora’s box” comes from later translation and retelling. The enduring modern reading treats hope as the positive quality that survives after the jar is opened.