In Hesiod’s Works and Days, hope remained inside Pandora’s container after the other troubles escaped.
Hesiod describes Pandora lifting the lid of a storage vessel, allowing evils and diseases to spread among humanity. Before hope could leave, Pandora closed the vessel. The Greek word used is elpis, commonly translated as “hope.” The passage has generated debate because readers disagree about whether hope is presented as a blessing kept for humans or as another force withheld from them.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” is also a later development. Hesiod’s original object is a large jar or storage vessel, called a pithos in Greek. Renaissance writers helped establish the box wording through translation and interpretation.
The answer is therefore tied specifically to Hesiod’s version, not to every later retelling. Some modern adaptations alter the contents, the order of events, or the meaning of hope.