In the familiar interpretation of Greek mythology, hope remained in Pandora’s jar after the harmful forces escaped.
Hesiod’s Works and Days says that Pandora lifted the jar’s lid and released evils that then spread among humanity. The text states that only Elpis remained inside when the jar was closed again. Elpis is commonly translated as “hope,” making it the traditional answer to this question.
The detail is more complicated than many modern summaries suggest. Scholars debate whether Elpis should be understood as hope in a positive sense, or as expectation more generally, and whether its confinement is comforting or troubling. Hesiod does not provide the simple optimistic moral often attached to the story today.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” also reflects later tradition rather than Hesiod’s exact wording. In the ancient account, the container is a pithos, a large storage jar, and Elpis is the final presence associated with it.