The Greek name for the hope remaining in Pandora’s container in Hesiod’s story is elpis.
Elpis is the ancient Greek word commonly translated as “hope.” In Hesiod’s Works and Days, the harmful forces escape from the container, but elpis remains inside after Pandora closes it. The word is a personified or abstract force in the passage rather than simply a modern motivational slogan.
The status of hope has been debated since antiquity and especially by modern classical scholars. If hope is beneficial, its confinement can seem tragic; if it is an expectation of future trouble, its confinement may appear protective. Hesiod’s brief wording permits multiple readings.
Elpis should not be confused with Eris, the goddess or personification of strife, who belongs to another part of Greek myth. Nor is it the same as Nemesis, associated with retribution. Those names are sometimes grouped together only because they are abstract mythological concepts.