The Poems of Hesiod
Page 11
But when the earth covered over this race too, Zeus the son
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of Kronos made still a fourth one upon the all-nourishing earth,
more just, more righteous, the godly Race of Heroes, who are called
half-gods, the race before our own upon the boundless earth.
And of these some perished from evil war and the dread battle cry,
fighting around Thebes of the seven gates, the Kadmeian land,
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on account of the flocks of Oedipus, and others were destroyed
going to Troy in ships across the great gulf of the sea for the sake
of Helen of the beautiful tresses. There the end of death shrouded
some of them, but to others father Zeus, the son of Kronos, gave
a living and a place to live apart from humans, settling them at the ends
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of the earth. And they dwell without a care in the Isles of the Blest,
beside deep-swirling Ocean, happy heroes, for whom the rich fields
bear sweet fruit that ripens three times a year, far from the deathless ones.
Kronos is king among them. The father of men and gods released
him from his bonds, and he has appropriate honor and glory among them.
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Zeus made another race of mortal human beings who have come
into being upon the rich earth. Would that I did not live among this fifth
race of men, but that I died before, or that I lived after! For now the race
is of iron, nor do men ever cease from suffering and sorrow by day, nor from
being ruined by destruction at night. The gods will give them grievous
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care, but nevertheless even these people will have some good mixed
with bad. Zeus will destroy this Iron Race of mortal men too, when they turn
out to be born with gray hair on their temples. Father will not be of like
mind with his sons, nor sons with their fathers, nor the guest with
his host, nor the companion with his companion. Nor will the brother
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be loved as he was before. They will dishonor their parents as quickly
they grow old. Wretched, knowing nothing of the gods’ wrath,
they will blame them, attacking them with vile words.
Nor will they
repay their aging parents for the cost of their own upbringing, and might
will determine right. One man will storm the city of another. Nor will
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there be any thanks for one who keeps his oath, or is just, or good,
but men will celebrate more the doer of evil deeds and violence.
Justice will be what you can get away with, and there will be no shame.
The evil man will harm the better, slandering him with crooked words
and swearing an oath upon it. And Envy will accompany every wretched
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human being—shrieking, delighting in evil, foul-faced! And then Shame
and Retribution will cover their beautiful skin in white robes and go
to Olympos from the earth with its broad paths to the tribe of deathless
ones, forsaking humans. Sad pains will be left for mortal humans,174
and there will be no defense against evil.
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And now I will tell
a fable for elders who themselves have understanding. Thus the hawk
said to the nightingale with fancy plumage as he carried her high
among the clouds, seizing her in his claws. And she, pierced
in his crooked claws, wailed pitifully. He spoke to her forcefully:
“Strange bird, why do you cry out? One much stronger now holds you.
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You must go wherever I take you, although you are a singer.
I will make a meal of you if I wish, or I will let you go. He is a fool
who wishes to go against those who are stronger. He cannot win,
and he suffers pain in addition to shame.” So spoke the swift-flying hawk,
the long-winged bird.
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Figure 15. The Cretan princess Ariadnê, daughter of King Minos, sits weeping on the shore as her lover Theseus, whom she helped defeat the Minotaur, sails away in the distance. Behind Ariadnê a winged personification of Retribution (Nemesis) points toward Theseus’ ship. A sorrowing winged Eros stands to the left. Fresco from Pompeii, ca. 70 A.D. from the House of Meleager, Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy (Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ariadne_revenge_MAN_Napoli_Inv9051.jpg)
O Persês, now hearken to Justice! Do not give in
to violence. For violence is bad for a miserable mortal. Even a fine man
cannot easily endure her, but he falls victim to delusion and sinks beneath it.
Better is to go on the other side of the road toward just acts: Justice
is stronger than violence when she comes to the end. A fool knows this
only after he has suffered.190
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For at once Oath runs along with crooked
judgments, and there is tumult when Justice is dragged along where
the bribe-devouring men take her, and they approve verdicts with crooked
judgments.194 But she, weeping, follows to the city and the places where
the people live, wrapped in a mist, bringing evil to the humans
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who drive her out and do not follow the straight path.196
And those
who give straight judgments to foreigners and to local peoples, and do not
turn aside from justice—their city flourishes, and the people blossom.
Peace that nourishes the young is spread over the earth for them,
nor does far-seeing Zeus ever send harsh war upon them. Nor does
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famine ever fall upon men who give straight judgments, nor disaster,
but at good dinners they eat the produce from their fields. The earth
bears for them the means of life in abundance, and in the mountains
the oaks bear acorns on the outer surface204 and nourish bees in their trunk.
The wooly sheep are weighed down with fleece. The women bear children
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who are just like their parents.206 They bloom continuously with good things.
Nor do they sail on ships, for the rich fields bear them crops.
But for those
who engage in evil violence and despicable deeds, for them far-seeing
Zeus, the son of Kronos, decrees justice. Often even the whole city
suffers because of one evil man who transgresses and commits reckless
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acts. For them the son of Kronos imposes from the sky great calamity,
famine and plague together, and the people perish. And the women
do not give birth, and the households are lessened through the devising
of Olympian Zeus. And again at another time the son of Kronos destroys
their broad army or their wall, or he sinks their ships on the sea.
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O princes, please take into consideration this justice: For the deathless
ones, who are nearby among humans, notice who oppresses others
with crooked judgments, not heeding punishment from the gods.
For thrice ten thousand are Zeus’s deathless guardians of mortal humans
upon the bountiful earth. They watch over judgments and wretched deeds,
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clothed in a mist, wandering everywhere upon the earth.
There is a virgin,
Justice, the child of Zeus, renowned and respected by the gods
who inhabit Olympos. And whenever someone does her harm,
scorning her with lies, at once she sits down beside her father Zeus,
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> the son of Kronos, and declares the unjust mind of human beings
so that the people pay the price for the insane folly of their elders,
who with evil intent bend judgments to the side and pronounce them
crookedly. Keep this in mind, O elders, and pronounce straight
judgments, you takers of bribes! Wholly abandon crooked judgments!
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A man contrives evil for himself when he does evil to another,
and evil planned harms the planner most. The eye of Zeus sees
all things and knows all things, and looks upon this too if he wishes,
and he does not fail to see what sort of justice a city keeps within it.
Right now I would not myself be a just man in my dealings with humans,
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neither I nor a son of mine—because it would be a bad thing to be just
if the unjust will have a greater justice.
But I do not think
that Zeus the Counselor will let things end up this way. O Persês,
do lay up these things in your mind, and hearken to Justice: Abandon
violence! For the son of Kronos has set up this rule for humans:
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that fishes and wild animals and winged birds devour one another,
for there is no Justice among them. But for humans he has given Justice,
which is by far the best thing. For if one should wish to speak publicly
in full knowledge of just things, far-seeing Zeus gives him wealth;
but whoever deliberately lies, swearing false oaths in his testimony,
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he is incurably hurt while harming Justice. That man’s generation
will in the future be darker, but the generation of the man who swears
justly is better in aftertimes.
I shall tell you something with good intention,
you great fool, Persês. For the crowds, wickedness is there to grab easily
—the road is smooth; she lives quite near us. But in front of excellence
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the deathless gods have placed sweat. Long and steep is the road that leads
to her, and harsh at first. When a man reaches the peak, then she is easy,
although before she was hard. This man is best of all, who understands
all things himself, who takes into account which things will be better
in the end. That man is a fine man who is persuaded by a good adviser.
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He who lacks understanding himself and does not take account when
he hears another speak, that man is good for nothing.
But you, Persês,
of a divine lineage,258 labor ever-mindful of my advice, so that Hunger
will hate you, and the reverend well-crowned Demeter will love you
and fill your barn with things to eat. For Hunger is misfortune for the man
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who never works. Gods and men hate him who lives without working, like
the stingless drones in character, who without working devour the labor
of bees, eating without working.
As for you, may you be glad to organize
your work properly, so that your barns be filled with things to eat at the time
of harvest. Men’s flocks become abundant, and they become rich through
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labor, and by working men become dearer to the deathless ones and to men;
for they greatly hate the idle. Work is not at all a disgrace, but not working
is a disgrace. If you work, the idle man will quickly come to envy
your wealth. Excellence and fame attend wealth! Whoever you are
by luck, it is better to be through labor, if you turn away your witless
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mind from the possessions of others toward work, as I advise you.
Shame is not good to provide for a needy man—shame, which
greatly harms men or helps them.273 Shame accompanies poverty, but
courage goes along with wealth. Riches are not to be seized; it is much
better when they are god-given. For if one takes hold of great wealth
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by force of hands, or seizes it by the cleverness of speech—as often
happens when profit deceives the human mind, and shamelessness
tramples on shame—the gods easily blot him out, and they diminish
the household of that man, and wealth attends him but a short time.
It is equally harsh for him who does evil to a suppliant or a guest,
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or who goes up to the bed of his brother and sleeps with his brother’s wife,
acting against what is right, or who abuses orphaned children in his folly,
or who wrangles with his aged father on the evil threshold of old age,
attacking him with wicked words: With him, truly, Zeus himself is furious
and in the end lays on a harsh recompense for his evil acts. Do you
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put your witless mind wholly apart from such things!
As far as
it is in your power, perform holy and pure sacrifice to the deathless gods
—burn the shining thigh pieces on the altar. At other times appease
them with libations and burnt offerings, both when you go to bed
and when the holy light returns, so that they have a kindly heart
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and mind toward you, so that you may barter for another’s lot,
and not another barter for your own.
Call your friend to a feast, but let your
enemy go. Especially call him who lives near you. For if something
should happen on your estate, your neighbors come without girding up,
while your in-laws gird themselves.295 A bad neighbor is as much a pain
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as a good neighbor is a great blessing. He who has a share in a fine
neighbor has an excellent value. Not even an ox would be lost
if the neighbors weren’t bad. Take a fair measure from your neighbor,
and pay him back fairly with the same measure, or better, if you can,
so that in the future, if you need something, you can rely on him.
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Don’t seek evil profits: Evil profits are like losses. Be a friend to him
who is a friend you, and visit those who visit you. And give to him
who gives, and don’t give to him who does not give: One gives to a giver;
no one gives to one who gives not. Give is good; Grab is a bad girl,
a giver of death! For the man who gives willingly, even if he gives
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abundantly, this man rejoices in his gift and takes delight in his heart.
But he who gives in to shamelessness and takes something, even
if he takes a little, that gives the heart a chill.
He who adds to what
he has, he will fend off fiery famine. For if you add a little to a little,
and do this often, quickly that little will become great. What
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one has laid up in the house does not trouble a man. It is better to have
things at home, because what is out of doors is at risk. It is a good
thing to take from what you have, but a pain to need something
you don’t have. I urge you to consider this.
Take your fill when
the cask is first opened, and when it is running out, but be sparing
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in the middle. Thrift in the lees is pointless. Let the wages for a friend
be fixed when you start out. Smile on your brother, but get a witness.