Editing Hesiod (section)

===''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''.)