Works and Days describes Hope remaining inside Pandora’s jar after its other contents escaped. This poem by Hesiod contains the fullest early literary account of the episode.
In the story, Zeus arranges Pandora’s creation and sends her to Epimetheus. When she opens the sealed vessel, destructive forces spread among humans. Pandora then replaces the lid, leaving Hope inside. The passage is brief, but its meaning has been debated because hope is not clearly described as either a gift released to humanity or an evil kept from them.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are famous early Greek epics, but neither contains the Pandora episode in this form. The Argonautica is much later and concerns Jason’s voyage. Another frequent error is assigning the jar story to the Theogony; that poem mentions Pandora, but Works and Days supplies the detailed jar-and-Hope narrative.