Hope was the last thing left inside the container in the Greek story of Pandora’s box.
When Pandora opened the vessel, the afflictions kept inside escaped and spread among humanity. She then closed it before the final occupant could leave. Hesiod names that occupant elpis, a Greek term usually translated as “hope.”
The ending has prompted centuries of debate. Some readers see hope as a consolation that remains available to humans after suffering enters the world. Others note that the Greek wording and the vessel’s role make the ending more ambiguous: hope may be a blessing kept for humanity, or another force held back from it.
The familiar English phrase “Pandora’s box” is itself a later development. Hesiod described a large storage jar, not a small box. Modern retellings often simplify both the container and the moral, but hope remains the standard answer associated with the myth’s final line.