In the Pandora myth, hope is traditionally said to remain after the other troubles escape.
In the familiar version of the story, Pandora opens the container and releases illnesses, hardships, and other forms of suffering into the world. She closes it before one final thing can escape: hope. This detail has produced one of the myth’s most enduring questions, because hope can be understood either as a comfort preserved for humanity or as another force held back from it.
Hesiod’s wording is more complicated than many modern summaries suggest. The Greek term elpis is usually translated as “hope,” but its precise role and meaning have been debated by scholars. The story does not provide a simple modern moral in which every detail has one universally accepted interpretation.
The popular phrase “Pandora’s box” also reflects later tradition. Hesiod describes a vessel, and the familiar box image became established through subsequent translations and artistic retellings.