Elpis is the Greek word and personification of hope associated with Pandora’s jar. In Hesiod’s Works and Days, Elpis is the final entity named in the container after the other evils have escaped.
Greek mythology often personifies abstract forces as divine or semi-divine figures. Elpis represents expectation or hope, while other mythological names have different meanings: Nike is victory, Nemesis is retribution, and Eris is strife. Those figures may appear in broader mythological discussions, but they are not the figure left in Pandora’s container.
The role of Elpis is one of the most debated details in the story. Hope can be understood as humanity’s consolation in a world now filled with disease, toil, and suffering. Alternatively, because it remains trapped, some interpretations treat the ending as ambiguous or even pessimistic. The ancient passage is brief, so later writers and artists supplied much of the optimistic interpretation familiar today.