In the Greek myth of Pandora, hope was the one thing left inside the opened container.
Hesiod says that once Pandora’s container was opened, evils escaped into the world, but hope remained within. The Greek word used is elpis, commonly translated as “hope.” The text does not provide a simple modern explanation of whether hope was deliberately preserved as a comfort or withheld from humanity, which has made this detail a subject of long-running interpretation.
The container is usually called Pandora’s box in English, although the ancient story describes a pithos, a large jar. Hope is often portrayed in later art and literature as humanity’s remaining consolation. Some retellings say Pandora closed the vessel before hope escaped; others emphasize only that it remained inside. The exact moral meaning is therefore less definite than the familiar summary suggests.