In Hesiod’s Pandora story, hope remains inside the vessel after the other evils escape. Works and Days says that Pandora closes the container before Hope comes out, leaving it within while suffering spreads among humanity.
The Greek word usually translated as “hope” is elpis. The passage has generated long-standing debate because it is unclear whether Hope is meant to be a comfort preserved for humans or another evil deliberately kept inside the vessel. Hesiod does not explain the point in the simple optimistic way common in modern retellings.
Many later versions say that Pandora released every evil but accidentally kept hope behind. That version makes hope a reassuring final gift. Other interpretations note that the story’s immediate context is bleak and that Hesiod may have regarded hope as a problematic expectation rather than an uncomplicated benefit.
Regardless of interpretation, Hope is the standard answer to what remains in the vessel. It is not described as a physical object, but as an abstract quality personified within the myth.