In Greek mythology, hope remained inside Pandora’s jar after all the troubles escaped.
Hesiod’s Works and Days says Pandora opened the container, releasing evils into the world. The text then says only elpis remained inside, because Pandora replaced the lid before it could leave. Elpis is commonly translated as “hope.”
The exact interpretation is debated. Some scholars have argued that elpis could mean expectation or anticipation, and that the story may present hope as either a consolation or another withheld human experience. Modern retellings nearly always treat it positively as hope.
The familiar expression “Pandora’s box” is itself a later change: Hesiod described a pithos, or large storage jar, not a box. The phrase became widespread through Renaissance and later European retellings.