by Hesiod
26. laurel: The laurel was sacred to Apollo, the god of song. Ordinarily such hexametric poetry was sung to the lyre. Perhaps the meaning is that Hesiod is so rustic that he could not play the lyre.
30. . . . a rock: This phrase has never been explained, but must refer to some proverb. Its meaning is “why avoid our main topic by talking of irrelevant things.”
39. Sky: The Greek for Earth is Gaia; and for Sky, Ouranos (Latin Uranus); but they seem more principles than personalities.
46. Giants: But Hesiod never mentions the Battle of the Gods and the Giants, an important myth not clearly attested until the fifth century B.C. (in Pindar, Nemean 1.67–69), three hundred years after Hesiod. In Homer and Hesiod, the Giants are obscure, powerful beings about whom few details are told, seemingly halfway between men and gods.
48. . . . of sorrow: Mnemosynê, “memory,” is the mother of the Muses because the Muses pass on the stories of olden times, knowledge of which depends on memory. Eleutherai is on MOUNT KITHAIRON, near Helikon, in Boeotia. PIERIA is the region north of Olympos, sacred to the Muses, where the gods first alight when descending from MOUNT OLYMPOS. Apparently there was an ancient cult to the Muses in Pieria; they often are called Pierides.
56. Graces and Desire: The Greek terms are Charites and Himeros: They dwell beside the Muses on Mount Olympos, because they have much in common.
60. ambrosial: Usually “ambrosial” means “immortal,” but here probably just “pleasant,” “fragrant.”
70. . . . respected princes: Hesiod perhaps invented these names of the Muses, which correspond to the functions of song as Hesiod understands them. Later, the Muses were assigned to specific genres: Kleio (“making famous”), history; Euterpê (“giving delight”), elegiac poetry; Thalia (“blooming”), comedy; Melpomenê (“of sweet song”), tragedy; Terpsichorê (“delighting in dance”), dance; Erato (“of love”), lyric poetry; Polyhymnia (“much-hymned”), hymns; Ourania (“heavenly”), astronomy; Kalliopê (“of beautiful voice”), epic poetry. Hesiod’s poem is pitched to the social elite, the princes who require the services of the Muses in maintaining their hold on power.
95. . . . valleys: Hesiod does not really fulfill this program, never again mentioning the gods’ wealth or the division of powers or how the gods first took possession of Olympos.
102. . . . and men: Chaos means “chasm” and is related to the English word “gap.” Chaos is a being but embodies the notion that in the beginning there was a separation, as when you open your mouth and a gap appears. Earth and Tartaros then appear (out of Chaos?), both beings too, but also something that one can stand on (Earth), and a dark, mysterious place beneath that something (Tartaros). Eros is sex, the force the makes things happen in the world, that makes one forget what is wise. He is never mentioned again in the Theogony (except once in a different connection, in line 164) but is present throughout as the principle of generation.
105. Darkness: The Greek for Darkness is Erebos; Night is Nyx, Brightness is Aither, and Day is Hemera. In the beginning is darkness, but darkness produces its opposite, light, which is progress.
114. . . . father: These twelve gods are the mysterious Titans, a word of uncertain meaning. The story that once there were older gods, overthrown by a younger generation, originated in Mesopotamia, whence arrived much Greek myth and the general outlines of Hesiod’s story. Except for Kronos and Rhea, who will replace Sky and Earth as masters of the universe, most of these gods are just names. Ocean was the river that surrounds the world, from which all other rivers come. All that we know of Koios is that he was the father of Leto, the sixth wife of Zeus and mother of Apollo and Artemis. Nothing is known about the obscure Kreios. Hyperion (“he who goes above”) is the father of Sun (Helios). Iapetos, evidently the same as the biblical Japeth, a son of Noah (but there are no other obvious connections), is the father of Prometheus. Theia (“goddess”) is the wife of Hyperion. Themis (“law”) and Mnemosynê (“memory”) are early consorts of Zeus. Phoibê (“brilliant goddess,” not to be confused with Phoibos Apollo) is the wife of Koios and mother of Leto. Tethys (“nourisher”?) is probably the same as Mesopotamian Tiamat, a goddess of the primordial waters from which the world emerged. Kronos’ epithet as “crooked-counseled” and as the youngest, and the last mentioned, mark him out as the successor to Sky; the meaning of his name is unknown.
120. . . . works: Cyclopês means “with round eyes.” Brontês means “thunderer”; Steropês means “flasher,” and Argês means “brightener.” Scholars have been unable to clarify the relation between these Cyclopês, the armorers of Zeus, and the race of lonely shepherds who persecute Odysseus (Odyssey 9). Homer never says that his Cyclops (named Polyphemos) has one eye, but the story requires it.
122. . . . Gygês: Briareos may mean “powerful one,” but the meanings of Kottos and Gygês are not clear.
132. substance: The “unconquerable substance” is adamant, probably meteoric iron or a kind of steel, but the meaning is unclear.
152. . . . boundless earth: The image is inconsistent. Sky and Earth are apparently locked in perpetual intercourse, so that her children cannot escape from her womb, the “hiding place,” but still Sky comes along desiring sex. The castration of Sky, coming soon in the story, explains how Sky and Earth were separated and the children liberated. According to the pattern of the Succession Myth (see the General Introduction), the son, noted for his cleverness, will overthrow his stupid and brutish father. A sickle is the standard weapon against monsters, used by Perseus against the Gorgon Medusa, and by Herakles against the Lernaean Hydra. Drops from the severed genitals are like semen, fertilizing the Earth to produce Erinys (er-in-is), the vengeful spirit of violated oath (especially oaths of obligation toward one’s parents), and the Giants, “Earth-born ones,” distinguished not so much by their size as by their ferocity as warriors. The Ash-Tree Nymphs (Meliai) are the spirits of ash trees, for some reason singled out here as primordial beings.
163. . . . genitals: Aphrodite is in origin the Eastern goddess of fertility and war, variously called Astartê, Ishtar, Inanna. Somehow “Aphrodite” comes from the Eastern name, but Hesiod provides a folk etymology for the name and derives it from the story of the castration of Sky, from aphros, the Greek word for “foam.” Aphrodite seems to have entered the Greek world via the island of CYPRUS, where Semitic-speaking people lived. She had a cult center at PAPHOS in the southwestern part of the island. There was also a cult of the goddess on the island of CYTHERA, off the southern coast of mainland Greece, no doubt brought by Semitic-speaking sailors—that is, Phoenicians. Her epithet “laughter-loving” (philommeidês) looks in Greek as if it means “genital-loving” (“genitals” in Greek is medea), hence Hesiod’s explanation that she came forth “from the genitals.” Hesiod is much interested is such folk etymologies.
165. . . . of the gods: Here Eros seems transmuted from the cosmic principle of generative energy into the Eros that means simply “sexual attraction,” which goes with Desire (Himeros) as a quality of Aphrodite.
171. . . . to follow: Again Hesiod puns, now on titaino, “to tighten,” which really means “to stretch,” as when drawing a bow.
175. . . . famous Ocean: Fate (Kêr) seems in origin to be a spirit of death, as we say “Lord Death,” a kind of being. Then Kêr comes to mean “mortal allotment,” “Fate,” and in the plural, the Fates. The Hesperidês, “nymphs of the West,” guarded a magical tree that grew in the west at the end of the world. On this tree grew the Golden Apples of Immortality. One of Herakles’ labors was to retrieve these apples. As dwellers in the western seas, where the sun sets, the Hesperidês were tantamount to spirits of death; hence they are the offspring of Night. Nemesis, “she who gives what is due,” is the spirit of retribution against excess, whether of good or evil.
180. . . . goes astray: Klotho means “spinner”; Lachesis, “disposer of lots”; and Atropos, “unbending.” The image of the Fates (here Kêres) is that they are like spinners, measuring out a length of th
read, then cutting it off. They are also punitive spirits, aware of wrongdoing. Later (line 708–9) Hesiod says that Klotho, Lachesis, and Atropos are the names of the Moirai, “apportioners” or “destinies,” hence “Fates.”
188. . . . a false oath: These typical offspring of Night include Lovemaking because in adultery all manner of evils are made, including the Trojan War through the adultery of Paris with Helen. In origin an oath is a curse that one lays upon oneself, which will come to fruition if what one declares is false: If you swear falsely, then you invite punishment by Oath.
193. . . . in her breast: Hesiod mixes up personifications with mythical figures: Thaumas (“wonder”) is a personification of a quality of the Sea. Phorkys is an old spirit of the sea, its powers and dangers, just like Nereus, with whom he is often confused. Keto is “sea monster,” though with beautiful cheeks. Eurybia means “wide of strength,” but otherwise we know nothing about her.
212. . . . faultless crafts: The list of the fifty Nereids, the daughters of Nereus and Doris (a daughter of Ocean) is a tour de force, the sort of catalogue in which Hesiod excelled. The names mainly denote positive aspects of the sea: for example, Pasithea “all-divine”; Melitê “like honey”; Galenê “calm”; Kymothoê “wave-swift”; Pontoporeia “making for easy passage on the sea.” Mostly they are just names, but Thetis (of unknown meaning) is the mother of Achilles, and Amphitritê (meaning unknown) is the consort of Poseidon.
216. . . . high in the air: Elektra the daughter of Ocean, is not to be confused with Elektra the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, or with Elektra the daughter of Atlas, one of the Pleiades (plē-a-dēz). Elektra means “amber-colored.” Iris (“rainbow”) is the usual messenger of the gods in Homer’s Iliad (but not in the Odyssey). The Harpies, “snatchers,” are storm winds who, like the spirits of death, sweep one away. The Greek for “storm wind” is Aello, and “fast flier” is Okypetê.
223. . . . two of them: The Gray Old Ladies are the Graiai, Pemphredo (perhaps “wasp”) and Enyo (“warlike”). Two of the Gorgons (“fierce ones”) are immortal: Sthenno (“strength”) and Euryalê (perhaps “she of the wide salt sea”). One is mortal: Medusa (“ruler”).
224. Blue-haired god: Poseidon.
228. . . . in his hands: Perseus’ decapitation of Medusa is the central event in his legend. Chrysaor means “he of the golden sword.”
237. . . . famous Ocean: Erytheia, “the red land,” is an island somewhere in the far West. Herakles, obeying the commands of his tyrannical cousin, Eurystheus, could reach it only by borrowing the “cup of the sun,” a special vessel by which the sun travels over the sky. Kallirhoê, “beautiful-flowing,” is an Oceanid, belonging to a group parallel to the Nereids but far greater in number (3,000: line 290). Orthos, “true,” was a savage, two-headed hound that with Eurytion (“easily flowing”) protected Geryon’s cattle (the meaning of “Geryon” is unknown).
237. She: Presumably Keto.
242. there she: Presumably Echidna, but because Hesiod goes on to speak otherwise of Echidna’s home, “she” may mean Keto.
245. . . . all her days: It is unclear what is meant by “among the Arimoi,” but perhaps “among the Aramaeans”: that is, the inhabitants of ancient SYRIA, from where this story may have come.
256. . . . of the war host: It was not until the fifth century B.C. that the adventures of Herakles were canonized as twelve in number. Hesiod here mentions the contest with Geryon, Kerberos, and the Lernaean Hydra, all children of the monstrous Typhon, who later in the poem will be Zeus’s most formidable enemy (lines 646–85.). Lerna is a swamp in the southwestern Argive Plain. Iolaos, who assisted Herakles on this adventure, is Herakles’ nephew.
256. She: Echidna or Hydra; it is not clear which.
266. . . . overcame him: “She” could be Echidna or Chimaira (“she-goat”) but is probably Chimaira. The Kadmeians, “descendants of Kadmos,” are the Thebans, whom the Sphinx persecuted. Tretos and Apesas are mountains between MYCENAE and CORINTH. After killing the Nemean Lion, Herakles wore his skin as a cloak and helmet.
269. . . . great limits: That is, the snake who guards the Golden Apples of the Hesperidês on the tree that grows at the edge of the world (elsewhere the snake is called Ladon, the name of a river that Hesiod is about to mention).
276. . . . Skamandros: The NILE is not mentioned in Homer, where the river is called Aigyptos, Eridanos was later identified with the PO RIVER in northern Italy; Strymon is in THRACE; Ister is the DANUBE; Phasis is a legendary river thought to be at the eastern end of the BLACK SEA; Rhesos is unknown but perhaps a tributary of the Granikos, northeast of TROY; several rivers were named Acheloös, but probably what is meant is the one in the southwestern mainland, the largest river in Greece; Rhodios is in the Troad, flowing down from Mount Ida; Haliakmon is in MACEDONIA; Heptaporos is in the Troad, a tributary of Skamandros; Granikos, Aisepos, and Simoeis are in the Troad; PENEIOS is in THESSALY; HERMOS is in LYDIA, flowing past Sardis, and the Kaïkos is farther north; Sangarios is in PHRYGIA; Ladon is in ARCADIA, a tributary of ALPHEIOS; Parthenios is a small river on the southern shore of the Black Sea; Euenos is in western mainland Greece, where Herakles fought the centaur Nessos, but the Nessos River appears to be in Thrace; Ardeskos is someplace in Thrace; Skamandros is in the Troad. There is little order in this list, reflecting Hesiod’s ignorance of real geography.
289. . . . all the rest: The Oceanids listed here have a variable importance, or none at all; many seem to have been invented for this catalogue. Some may be the names of real springs; some have no connection with water at all. Their only function, according to Hesiod, is to care for the young. Peitho, “persuasion,” is a nymph who adorns Pandora, along with the Graces (Works and Days, line 75); Admetê, “unbroken,” is appropriate to a nourisher of youths; Ianthê, “violet,” may refer to the color of a spring; Elektra, “amber-colored,” was wife of the sea god Thaumas and the mother of the messenger goddess Iris and the Harpies; Doris, “giver,” was the mother of the Nereids; Prymno, “undermost,” was perhaps a nymph of the groundwater; Ouraniê, “heavenly,” was also the name of one of the Muses. Aquatic deities are often associated with horses, or represented as them, hence Hippo, “horse.” Klymenê, “famous one,” was the wife of the Titan Iapetos and mother of Prometheus; Rhodeia means “rose-colored”; Kallirhoê, “fair-flowing,” was the mother of Geryon; Zeuxo’s name, “she who joins,” marks her as a goddess of marriage; Eiduia, “knowing,” was wife to King Aietês of COLCHIS and the mother of Medea, perhaps a goddess of witchcraft; Pasithoê, “all-swift,” may refer to a fast-flowing spring; Plexaurê perhaps means “water-weaver,” and Galaxaurê means “water like milk”; Dionê, “female Zeus,” was Zeus’s consort at the oracular shrine of Dodona in northwestern Greece; Melobosis, “sheep feeder,” is probably a nymph of grassy pastures; Thoê means “swift”; Polydorê is “much-giver,” and Plouto is “wealth”; Kerkeïs is obscure; Perseïs, “destroyer,” is the mother by Helios of the Eastern despot Aietês and the witch Circe (“hawk”); Ianeira is perhaps goddess of the Ionians; Akastê, “irregular,” Xanthê, “yellow,” Petraiê, “rocky,” and Menestho, perhaps “lasting,” refer to qualities of springs; Europa is goddess of the continent and the name of a spring in Dodona. Metis, “mind,” is Zeus’s first consort; Eurynomê, “wide-ruling,” is Zeus’s third consort and mother of the Graces; Telesto means “accomplisher”; Chryseïs is “golden”; Asia, perhaps “muddy,” is the goddess of the territory of Lydia, the sister of Europa, and the wife of Prometheus; Kalypso, “concealer,” is probably not the Kalypso (the daughter of Atlas, not of Ocean) who imprisoned Odysseus for seven years in the Odyssey (7.259); Eudorê is “well-giving”; Tychê is “chance,” “luck,” a great goddess in later times; Amphiro is “flowing-around,” and Okyrhoê is “swift-flowing.” Styx, “hateful,” is the famous river of the underworld.
301. . . . all wise men: The Sun is Helios, the Moon is Selenê, and Dawn is Eos. The children of Kreios are nonentities: Astr
aios, “starry,” is perhaps invented as the father of the stars. Pallas is utterly obscure, as is his relationship to Pallas Athena, to a Giant of the same name whom she killed, and to an early Athenian hero of the same name. Persês is the father of Hekatê.
304. . . . the heaven: West Wind is Zephyros; North Wind is Boreas; South Wind is Notos. Early-Born is Erigeneia, a title of Dawn (Eos); Dawn Bringer is Eosphoros: that is, Venus, the only planet mentioned in Greek literature before the fourth century B.C., the brightest star in the sky, appearing only in the morning and evening.
307. . . . splendid children: Emulation is Zelos; Victory is Nikê; Strength is Kratos; Power is Bia.
311. . . . lightning: Zeus.
320. oath of the gods: Only gods could swear by Styx; such an oath could never be broken.
329. . . . above all others: Asteria was also a name of the island of DELOS, where Leto gave birth to Apollo and Artemis. In later times Hekatê was a goddess of the crossroads, of witchcraft, magic, and the occult arts, but in Hesiod she is a great goddess of boundless benevolence, with whom Hesiod perhaps had a personal relationship. Her cult seems to come from CARIA, in southern Asia Minor, where Hesiod’s father may have had connections. Perhaps for this reason he named Hesiod’s brother Persês (in Works and Days), the name of Hekatê’s father. Hekatê plays little role in Greek myth.