Editing Hesiod (section)

==Works==
[[File:Hesiodi Ascraei quaecumque exstant.tif|thumb|[[Vignette (graphic design)|Vignette]] for ''Hesiodi Ascraei quaecumque exstant'' (1701)]]

Three works have survived which were attributed to Hesiod by ancient commentators: ''[[Works and Days]]'', ''[[Theogony]]'', and ''[[Shield of Heracles]]''. Only fragments exist of other works attributed to him. The surviving works and fragments were all written in the [[Dactylic hexameter|conventional metre]] and language of epic. However, the ''Shield of Heracles'' is now known to be spurious and probably was written in the sixth century BC. Many ancient critics also rejected ''Theogony'' (e.g., [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] 9.31.3), even though Hesiod mentions himself by name in that poem. ''Theogony'' and ''Works and Days'' might be very different in subject matter, but they share a distinctive language, metre, and [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosody]] that subtly distinguish them from Homer's work and from the ''Shield of Heracles''<ref>Barron and Easterling, ''Hesiod'' in ''The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature'', p. 94.</ref> (see [[#Hesiod's Greek|Hesiod's Greek]] below). Moreover, they both refer to the same version of the Prometheus myth.<ref>Vernant, J., ''Myth and Society in Ancient Greece'', tr. J. Lloyd (1980), p. 184 f.</ref> Yet even these authentic poems may include interpolations. For example, the first ten verses of the ''Works and Days'' may have been borrowed from an [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic]] hymn to [[Zeus]] (they were recognised as not the work of Hesiod by critics as ancient as Pausanias).<ref>J. A. Symonds, ''Studies of the Greek Poets'', p. 167.</ref>
 
Some scholars have detected a proto-historical perspective in Hesiod, a view rejected by [[Paul Cartledge]], for example, on the grounds that Hesiod advocates a not-forgetting without any attempt at verification.<ref>[[Paul Cartledge]], ''Sparta and Lakonia – A regional history 1300 to 362 BC''. 2nd Edition.</ref> Hesiod has also been considered the father of [[gnomic verse]].<ref>Symonds, ''Studies of the Greek Poets'', p. 166.</ref> He had "a passion for systematizing and explaining things".<ref name="Burn, 77"/> [[Ancient Greek poetry]] in general had strong philosophical tendencies and Hesiod, like Homer, demonstrates a deep interest in a wide range of 'philosophical' issues, from the nature of divine justice to the beginnings of human society. Aristotle (''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'' 983b–987a) believed that the question of [[Unmoved mover#First cause|first causes]] may even have started with Hesiod (''Theogony'' 116–53) and Homer (''[[Iliad]]'' 14.201, 246).<ref>W. Allen, ''Tragedy and the Early Greek Philosophical Tradition'', p. 72.</ref>

He viewed the world from outside the charmed circle of aristocratic rulers, protesting against their injustices in a tone of voice that has been described as having a "grumpy quality redeemed by a gaunt dignity"<ref>Andrewes, ''Greek Society'', p. 218.</ref> but, as stated in the biography section, he could also change to suit the audience. This ambivalence appears to underlie his presentation of human history in ''Works and Days'', where he depicts a golden period when life was easy and good, followed by a steady decline in behaviour and happiness through the silver, bronze, and Iron Ages&nbsp;– except that he inserts a heroic age between the last two, representing its warlike men as better than their bronze predecessors. He seems in this case to be catering to two different world-views, one epic and aristocratic, the other unsympathetic to the heroic traditions of the aristocracy.<ref>Burn, ''The Pelican History of Greece'', p. 78.</ref>

===''Theogony''===
{{Main|Theogony}}
The ''Theogony'' is commonly considered Hesiod's earliest work.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} Despite the different subject matter between this poem and the ''Works and Days'', most scholars, with some notable exceptions, believe that the two works were written by the same man. As [[Martin Litchfield West|M. L. West]] writes, "Both bear the marks of a distinct personality: a surly, conservative countryman, given to reflection, no lover of women or life, who felt the gods' presence heavy about him."<ref>M. L. West, "Hesiod" in ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', S. Hornblower & A. Spawforth (eds), third revised edition, Oxford (1996), p. 521.</ref> An example:

<blockquote><poem>Hateful strife bore painful Toil,
Neglect, Starvation, and tearful Pain,
Battles, Combats...</poem></blockquote>

The ''Theogony'' concerns the origins of the world ([[cosmogony]]) and of the gods ([[theogony]]), beginning with [[Chaos (mythology)|Chaos]], [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], [[Tartarus]] and [[Eros (mythology)|Eros]], and shows a special interest in [[genealogy]]. Embedded in [[Greek mythology|Greek myth]], there remain fragments of quite variant tales, hinting at the rich variety of myth that once existed, city by city; but Hesiod's retelling of the old stories became, according to [[Herodotus]], the accepted version that linked all [[Greeks|Hellenes]]. It's the earliest known source for the myths of [[Pandora]], [[Prometheus]] and the [[Golden Age]].

The creation myth in Hesiod has long been held to have Eastern influences, such as the [[Hittites|Hittite]] [[Song of Kumarbi]] and the [[Babylon]]ian [[Enuma Elis]]. This cultural crossover may have occurred in the eighth- and ninth-century Greek trading colonies such as [[Al Mina]] in North [[Syria]]. (For more discussion, read [[Robin Lane Fox]]'s ''Travelling Heroes'' and Peter Walcot's ''Hesiod and the Near East''.)

===''Works and Days''===
{{Main|Works and Days}}
[[File:Houghton MS Gr 20 - Theogeny, 10.jpg|thumb|Opening lines of ''Works and Days'' in a 16th-century manuscript]]
''Works and Days'' is a poem of over 800 lines which revolves around two general truths: labour is the universal lot of Man, but he who is willing to work will get by. Scholars have interpreted this work against a background of agrarian crisis in mainland [[Greece]], which inspired a wave of documented [[Greek colonies|colonisation]]s in search of new land.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

''Works and Days'' may have been influenced by an established tradition of [[didactic]] poetry based on Sumerian, Hebrew, Babylonian and Egyptian wisdom literature.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

This work lays out the five [[Ages of Man]], as well as containing advice and wisdom, prescribing a life of honest labour and attacking idleness and unjust judges (like those who decided in favour of [[Perses (brother of Hesiod)|Perses]]) as well as the practice of usury. It describes immortals who roam the earth watching over justice and injustice.<ref>Hesiod, ''Works and Days'' 250: "Verily upon the earth are thrice ten thousand immortals of the host of [[Zeus]], guardians of mortal man. They watch both justice and injustice, robed in mist, roaming abroad upon the earth." (Compare Symonds, ''Studies of the Greek Poets'', p. 179.)</ref> The poem regards labor as the source of all good, in that both gods and men hate the idle, who resemble [[Drone (bee)|drones]] in a hive.<ref>''Works and Days'' 300: "Both gods and men are angry with a man who lives idle, for in nature he is like the stingless drones who waste the labor of the [[bees]], eating without working."</ref> In the horror of the triumph of violence over hard work and honor, verses describing the "Golden Age" present the social character and practice of [[vegetarianism|nonviolent diet]] through agriculture and fruit-culture as a higher path of living sufficiently.<ref>Williams, Howard, [http://www.ivu.org/history/williams/hesiod.html ''The Ethics of Diet – A Catena''] (1883).</ref>

===Hesiodic corpus===
In addition to the ''Theogony'' and ''Works and Days'', numerous other poems were ascribed to Hesiod during antiquity. Modern scholarship has doubted their authenticity, and these works are generally referred to as forming part of the "Hesiodic corpus" whether or not their authorship is accepted.<ref>E.g. {{harvtxt|Cingano|2009}}.</ref> The situation is summed up in this formulation by [[Glenn W. Most|Glenn Most]]:
{{blockquote|"Hesiod" is the name of a person; "Hesiodic" is a designation for a kind of poetry, including but not limited to the poems of which the authorship may reasonably be assigned to Hesiod himself.<ref>{{harvtxt|Most|2006|p=xi}}.</ref>}}
Of these works forming the extended Hesiodic corpus, only the ''[[Shield of Heracles]]'' ({{lang|grc|Ἀσπὶς Ἡρακλέους}}, ''Aspis Hērakleous'') is transmitted intact via a medieval manuscript tradition.

Classical authors also attributed to Hesiod a lengthy genealogical poem known as ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' or ''Ehoiai'' (because sections began with the Greek words ''ē hoiē,'' "Or like the one who&nbsp;..."). It was a mythological catalogue of the mortal women who had mated with gods, and of the offspring and descendants of these unions.

Several additional hexameter poems were ascribed to Hesiod:
* ''[[Megalai Ehoiai]]'', a poem similar to the ''Catalogue of Women'', but presumably longer.
* ''[[Wedding of Ceyx]]'', a poem concerning Heracles' attendance at the wedding of a certain Ceyx—noted for its riddles.
* ''[[Melampodia]]'', a genealogical poem that treats of the families of, and myths associated with, the great seers of mythology.
* ''[[Idaean Dactyls (poem)|Idaean Dactyls]]'', a work concerning mythological smelters, the [[Dactyl (mythology)#Idaean Dactyls|Idaean Dactyls]].
* ''[[Descent of Perithous]]'', about [[Theseus]] and [[Perithous]]' trip to Hades.
* ''[[Precepts of Chiron]]'', a didactic work that presented the teaching of [[Chiron]] as delivered to the young [[Achilles]].
* ''[[Megala Erga]]'' or ''Great Works'', a poem similar to the ''Works and Days'', but presumably longer
* ''[[Astronomia (poem)|Astronomia]]'', an astronomical poem to which Callimachus (''Ep''. 27) apparently compared [[Aratus]]' ''Phaenomena''.
* ''[[Aegimius (poem)|Aegimius]]'', a heroic epic concerning the Dorian [[Aegimius]] (variously attributed to Hesiod or [[Cercops of Miletus]]).
* ''[[Kiln (poem)|Kiln]]'' or ''Potters'', a brief poem asking Athena to aid potters if they pay the poet. Also attributed to Homer.
* ''Ornithomantia'', a work on bird omens that followed the ''Works and Days''.

In addition to these works, the ''Suda'' lists an otherwise unknown "dirge for Batrachus, [Hesiod's] beloved".<ref>''Suda'', s.v. [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?db=REAL&search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&user_list=LIST&page_num=1&searchstr=eta,583&field=adlerhw_gr&num_per_page=1 {{lang|grc|Ἡσίοδος (η}} 583)].</ref>