In Hesiod’s Pandora myth, hope is what remains inside the jar after Pandora releases its troubles.
In Works and Days, Pandora removes the lid from a container, allowing the destructive forces within to escape into the world. She closes it before the final occupant gets out, and the text identifies that occupant as elpis, usually translated as “hope.”
The meaning of this ending has been debated for centuries. Some readers see hope as a comfort preserved for humanity, while others note that Hesiod’s wording leaves open whether hope is a blessing kept for people or another troubling force trapped in the container. The Greek word does not automatically settle that interpretation.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” is itself a later development. Hesiod describes a pithos, a large storage jar, not a small box. Renaissance translators helped move the image toward the wording used in English today.