Elpis is the Greek word for “hope” used in ancient discussions of the contents of Pandora’s jar.
In Hesiod’s Works and Days, elpis remains inside the vessel after the other evils escape. The word can refer to expectation or anticipation as well as hope in the modern positive sense. That range of meaning contributes to the long debate over whether the jar’s remaining contents are reassuring, threatening, or deliberately ambiguous.
The myth does not explicitly provide a modern moral such as “hope always triumphs.” It simply describes Pandora replacing the lid while elpis remains within. Ancient and modern interpreters have proposed different explanations: hope may be a protection retained for humans, an evil that never reaches them, or a complex condition that belongs to mortal life.
Elpis should not be confused with Eris, the goddess of strife, or arete, a Greek term for excellence or virtue. Translators normally render elpis as “hope,” but the original word carries cultural and philosophical associations that are broader than the single English word.