In Hesiod's account, hope remained inside Pandora's jar after the other evils escaped.
The Works and Days says that Pandora opened the vessel and released destructive afflictions among humanity. Hope, called Elpis in Greek, remained inside because Pandora closed the lid before it could leave. This is the source of the familiar claim that hope was the final thing left in Pandora's container.
The meaning is debated. Some readers interpret the trapped hope as a consolation preserved for humans, while others ask whether hope itself was intended as another troubling condition. Hesiod's wording does not provide a simple modern moral explanation, so later literature has developed several interpretations.
Popular retellings often say that “hope escaped last,” but the ancient passage specifically presents it as remaining inside. That difference is important: the exact ancient image is not always the same as the optimistic version repeated in modern summaries.