In Hesiod’s Works and Days, hope remained inside Pandora’s vessel.
The poem says that Pandora’s opening of the vessel released the troubles or evils stored within it, while hope stayed behind. This is the source of the famous image of hope surviving after suffering enters the world. The Greek word is often rendered as elpis, a term that can carry broader meanings related to expectation or anticipation.
Readers sometimes assume the story clearly says whether hope was trapped inside as a comfort or deliberately kept from humanity. Hesiod’s wording has encouraged both interpretations, and the poem does not provide a simple modern explanation. The enduring detail is that hope does not escape with the other contents.
The original object was a pithos, a large jar or storage vessel. “Pandora’s box” is the later phrase that became dominant in English and many modern retellings.