Theogony and Works and Days
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Written by the author
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~100,000 words · 479 passages
Cite this work
- APAHesiod. (n.d.). Theogony and Works and Days. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/hesiod/theogony-and-works-and-days
- MLAHesiod. Theogony and Works and Days. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/hesiod/theogony-and-works-and-days.
- ChicagoHesiod. Theogony and Works and Days. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/hesiod/theogony-and-works-and-days.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
Hesiod's two poems: the 'Theogony', which tells how the gods and the world were born, and the 'Works and Days', which tells how one should live by working the land.
Context and history
They are nearly contemporary with Homer, of the eighth or seventh century BC, and they are something else. The 'Theogony' is the earliest ordered account of Greek mythology we have, and the text on which nearly all later ones depend: out of Chaos comes Earth, and from there the generations of gods down to Zeus. The 'Works and Days' is addressed to his brother Perses, who he says took part of his inheritance by bribing the judges: it is a didactic and aggrieved poem, with the farming calendar, practical advice, and the myth of the five ages and that of Pandora. Hesiod's voice is the first personal voice in European literature: he gives his name, complains about his life, and speaks of his particular village.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
The Hesiodic poems fall into two groups according as they are didactic (technical or gnomic) or genealogical: the first group centres round the _Works and Days_, the second round the _Theogony_. I. “The Works and Days” The poem consists of four main sections. (_a_) After the prelude, which Pausanias failed to find in the ancient copy engraved on lead seen by him on Mt. Helicon, comes a general exhortation to industry. It begins with the allegory of the two Strifes, who stand for wholesome Emulation and Quarrelsomeness respectively. Then by means of the Myth of Pandora the poet shows how evil and the need for work first arose, and goes on to describe the Five Ages of the World, tracing the gradual increase in evil, and emphasizing the present miserable condition of the world, a condition in which struggle is inevitable. Next, after the Fable of the Hawk and Nightingale, which serves as a condemnation of violence and injustice, the poet passes on to contrast the blessing which Righteousness brings to a nation, and the punishment which Heaven sends down upon the violent, and the section concludes with a series of precepts on industry and prudent conduct generally. (_b_) The second section shows how a man may escape want and misery by industry and care both in agriculture and in trading by sea. Neither subject, it should be carefully noted, is treated in any way comprehensively. (_c_) The third part is occupied with miscellaneous precepts relating mostly to actions of domestic and everyday life and conduct which have little or no connection with one another. (_d_) The final section is taken up with a series of notices on the days of the month which are favourable or unfavourable for