Elpis is the Greek name for the hope that remains in Pandora’s jar.
Elpis is a personification of hope in Greek mythology and is usually described as the final presence left inside Pandora’s vessel after the evils escape. In Hesiod’s Works and Days, the word appears in the closing part of the Pandora episode. English translations commonly render it simply as “hope.”
The name matters because Greek elpis is broader than modern optimism. It can refer to expectation or anticipation, including expectation of either good or bad outcomes. Translators therefore preserve the familiar word “hope,” while scholars discuss whether the story presents Elpis as a blessing, a withheld consolation, or an ambiguous form of expectation.
Elpis also appears in later Greek and Roman cultural traditions as a personified quality. Roman writers generally used Spes as the equivalent concept. Elpis should not be confused with Eris, the goddess of strife, whose name is sometimes mentioned alongside Pandora in discussions of Greek myth.