Hesiod: Theogony and Works & Days

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by M. L. West, 1991

Hesiod was said to have lived in the 8th Century B.C., roughly around the same time as Homer.  Unlike Homer, Hesiod gets personal.  He talks about where he came from, what he did, who his brother was and other details.  He is known for two major works that are foundational to Ancient Greek studies, Theogony and Works and Days.

In the Theogony, Hesiod gives us the genealogy of the gods.  In doing so, he also gives us a basic philosophy of how and why things are the way they are, what forces act in the world, and how they are related.

In the Works and Days we get a cross between a book of proverbs and a guide to husbandry, sort of a farmers almanac.  We hear the famous story of Pandora and her infamous box.  The five ages of man: gold, silver, bronze, heroic, and lastly iron.

When I first read the Theogony I was excited about the genealogy of the Greek gods.  But, as I go over it again and again, I start to see a whole philosophy embedded within the story.

This is the only translation I have read so far.  West gives a good introduction and has good notes.  I would have liked to have seen see line numbers by paragraphs.  Also, a few of the original Greek words in the notes would have added a lot to this.

“First came the Chasm; and then broad-breasted Earth, secure seat for ever of all the immortals who occupy the peak of snowy Olympus; the misty Tartara in a remote recess of the broad-pathed earth; and Eros, the most handsome among the immortal gods, dissolver of flesh, who overcomes the reason and purpose in the breasts of all gods and all men.”