In the Greek myth of Pandora, hope remains inside the container after the evils escape.
Hesiod’s Works and Days says that destructive forces spread among humanity when Pandora opens the vessel, while hope remains within. This ending has made the story especially memorable: even after suffering enters human life, something associated with expectation or endurance is left behind.
The Greek word is Elpis, usually translated as “hope.” Scholars have debated whether Elpis should be understood as a comforting blessing, a withheld resource, or something more ambiguous. The poem does not provide a simple modern moral explaining exactly why hope remains inside.
Many retellings say that Pandora “closed the box before hope could escape.” That detail is widespread, but versions differ in emphasis and wording. The stable traditional answer to the familiar question is hope, or Elpis in Greek.