Hesiod says that hope remained inside Pandora’s container after the other troubles escaped. In “Works and Days,” Pandora replaces the lid before hope can leave, making hope the one element retained by humanity.
The meaning is debated. Some readers see hope as a comfort that helps people endure suffering. Others note that Hesiod’s Greek word, elpis, can mean expectation in either a positive or negative sense, so the passage may be more complicated than the modern optimistic interpretation.
The familiar wording “Pandora’s box” comes from later translation history, but the central narrative detail is already present in Hesiod’s account. This question differs from identifying the container itself: the surviving content is the named concept hope.