In the Greek Pandora myth, Hope was the jar’s final remaining occupant.
Hesiod says that Pandora opened a large storage vessel and released the troubles that had been hidden inside. When she closed it again, only elpis remained. Elpis is usually translated into English as “hope,” although the precise meaning of the ancient Greek term has been debated by scholars.
The detail gives the myth a complicated ending. Hope may be understood as a consolation left for humanity, or as something withheld inside the jar rather than released into the world. The text itself does not offer a simple modern moral explaining exactly why hope remains there.
The familiar phrase “Pandora’s box” is also a later wording. Hesiod described a pithos, a large storage jar or vessel. Renaissance translators helped establish the box version, while the idea that hope remains has become one of the most enduring features of the story.