Life

According to Hesiod’s (HEE-see-uhd) own testimony, his father moved from Cyme in Asia Minor to Boeotia. There, the Muses visited Hesiod while he tended sheep on Mount Helicon and “gave” him a song about the gods. In a poetic contest at the Funeral Games of Amphidamas, Hesiod won first prize, some say beating Homer himself. In Erga kai Emerai (c. 700 b.c.e.; Works and Days, 1618), the poet lambasts his brother, Perses, concerning land inheritance. Of the many works attributed to Hesiod, only the Theogonia (c. 700 b.c.e.; Theogony, 1728) and the Works and Days are considered authentic. The Theogony traces the movement from female Earth to Olympian Zeus, telling a story of familial violence, including Cronos’s castration of Uranus and Zeus’s overthrow of Cronos before Zeus creates civic order. In the Works and Days, Hesiod’s tone is more plaintive and chastising, warning of divine retribution for greedy kings and lazy people. This work includes stories about Prometheus, the birth of Pandora, and the Five Ages of Man. Both the Theogony and the Works and Days are concerned with justice, each showing extensive influence from Near Eastern literature. The Shield (c. 580-570 b.c.e.; English translation, 1815), about Heracles’ shield and his fight with Cycnus, is no longer considered Hesiodic. Lengthy fragments from Ehoiai (c. 580-520 b.c.e.; The Catalogue of Women, 1983), describing heroic genealogies, also survive. This work was believed to be Hesiod’s in antiquity, but apparently this continuation of the Theogony was written later.

Influence

Hesiod, with Homer, established for the Greeks their understanding of the gods. The influence of the Theogony is seen throughout Greek literature; influence of the Works and Days is especially evident in poet Vergil’s Georgics (c. 37-29 b.c.e.; English translation, 1589).

Further Reading:

Brown, Norman O. Introduction to Theogony, by Hesiod. New York: Liberal Arts Press, 1953. A detailed, interpretive introduction that contains perceptive commentary on the poem’s meaning accompanies a reliable translation.

Burn, Andrew Robert. The World of Hesiod: A Study of the Greek Middle Ages. 2d ed. New York: B. Blom, 1966. An early study that examines the poet in his historical context. Includes much basic background information.

Clay, Jenny Strauss. Hesiod’s Cosmos. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. A scholarly study of Hesiod’s works and their expression of early Greek religious thought.

Evelyn-White, Hugh G., ed. and trans. Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica. 1914. Reprint. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982. The translation considered standard through most of the twentieth century.

Gotshalk, Richard. Homer and Hesiod: Myth and Philosophy. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2000. A study of the nature and function of the poetry of Homer and Hesiod when their work is considered in historical context as developments of poetry as a distinctive voice for truth beyond religion and myth.

Havelock, Eric. Preface to Plato. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982. An excellent discussion of “oral acoustic intelligence,” the tradition in which Hesiod composed.

Hesiod. “Theogony,” “Works and Days,” “Shield.” Translated by Apostolos N. Athanassakis. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. An imaginative modern translation, combined with lucid, thorough notes and an incisive introduction. The translator’s familiarity with historic and contemporary Greece enables him to offer many relevant details from folk culture. Includes bibliography.

Janko, R. Homer, Hesiod, and the Hymns: Diachronic Development in Epic Diction. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Solid scholarship and interesting speculation about the development of the hexameter tradition, with many theoretical assertions about dates and origins.

Lamberton, Robert. Hesiod . Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: Hermes Books, 1988. An accessible introduction to...