In Greek mythology, hope remained inside Pandora’s container after everything else escaped.
Hesiod’s account says Pandora opened a storage vessel that released evils into the world. The vessel was then closed before hope could leave, making hope the final occupant. This detail has produced two major interpretations: hope may have been preserved for humanity, or it may have been withheld from humanity.
The Greek word used is elpis, commonly translated as “hope.” Hesiod does not present the story as a simple modern moral tale in which hope is unquestionably a gift. The ambiguity comes from the fact that hope remains in the container rather than clearly escaping.
Later retellings usually describe hope as the consolation left to humans after disease, suffering, and other troubles entered the world. The familiar English expression “Pandora’s box” comes from later translations and adaptations; Hesiod described a pithos, or large storage jar, rather than a small box.