In Hesiod’s myth of Pandora, hope remained inside the jar after it was opened.
Hesiod’s Works and Days says that Pandora lifted the lid of a storage jar, releasing the evils that had been contained within it. The text then says that only hope remained inside because Pandora replaced the lid before it could escape. This is the source of the familiar expression “Pandora’s box,” although Hesiod described a jar rather than a box.
The role of hope is one of the myth’s most debated features. Some readers see its remaining inside as a final comfort for humanity, while others interpret it as another hardship that stays trapped within human life. Hesiod does not provide a simple modern explanation of the detail.
The Greek term used by Hesiod is elpis, commonly translated as “hope.” Later retellings generally preserve hope as the final occupant, even while changing the jar into a box and simplifying the story’s darker moral context.