In Hesiod's Pandora story, hope remained inside the jar after troubles escaped into the world.
The detail appears in Hesiod's Works and Days, one of the earliest surviving literary sources for the myth. Pandora opened a sealed storage jar, and various evils or destructive forces flew out. She closed it before the final occupant could escape: elpis, usually translated as “hope.”
The meaning of this ending has been debated for centuries. Some readers see hope as a blessing preserved for humanity, while others ask whether hope is itself a form of expectation connected with suffering. The Greek word does not perfectly match every modern meaning of the English word, so translations and interpretations can differ.
The phrase “Pandora's box” is therefore slightly misleading historically. Hesiod described a pithos, not a small box. The box version became standard in later European culture after a Renaissance translation helped popularize the altered image.