The Poems of Hesiod

by Hesiod

  EDITIONS

  Solmsen, F., R. Merkelbach, and M. L. West, eds. Hesiodi Theogonia Opera et Dies Scutum: Fragmenta Selecta. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970. [2nd ed., 1983; 3rd ed., 1990.]

  West, M. L., ed., Hesiod: Theogony. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.

  ———, ed. Hesiod: Works and Days. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.

  STUDIES OF GENERAL INTEREST

  Burn, A. R. The World of Hesiod: A Study of the Greek Middle Ages, c. 900–700 BC (New York, 1937).

  Barron, J. P., and P. E. Easterling. “Hesiod.” In P. E. Easterling and Bernard M. W. Knox, eds., The Cambridge History of Classical Literature, vol. 1, Greek Literature, 92–105. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

  Becker, A. S. “Reading Poetry through a Distant Lens: Ecphrasis, Ancient Greek Rhetoricians, and the Pseudo-Hesiodic ‘Shield of Herakles.’” American Journal of Philology 113 (1992): 5–24.

  Burkert, W. Babylon, Memphis, Persepolis: Eastern Contexts of Greek Culture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004.

  Clay, D. “The World of Hesiod.” Ramus 21 (1992): 131–55.

  Clay, J. S. Hesiod’s Cosmos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

  Edwards, A. T. Hesiod’s Ascra. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004.

  Edwards, G. P. The Language of Hesiod in Its Traditional Context. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

  Fontenrose, J. Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1959.

  ———. “Work, Justice, and Hesiod’s Five Ages.” Classical Philology 69 (1974): 1–16.

  Gagarin, M. “The Poetry of Justice: Hesiod and the Origins of Greek Law.” Ramus 21 (1992): 61–78.

  Griffin, J. “Greek Myth and Hesiod,” In J. Boardman and J. Griffin, eds., The Oxford History of the Classical World, 78–98. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.

  Hamilton, R. The Architecture of Hesiodic Poetry. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1989.

  ———. Hesiod’s Theogony. Bryn Mawr: Department of Greek, Bryn Mawr College, 1990.

  Janko, R. Homer, Hesiod and the Hymns: Diachronic Development in Epic Diction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

  ———. “The Shield of Herakles and the Legend of Cycnus.” Classical Quarterly 36 (1986): 38–59.

  ———, “From Gabii and Gordion to Eretria and Methone: The Rise of the Greek Alphabet.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 58 (2015): 1–32.

  Lamberton, R., Hesiod. New Haven; Yale University Press, 1988.

  Lopez-Ruiz, C., When the Gods Were Born: Greek Cosmogonies and the Near East. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2010.

  Powell, B. B., Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

  Montanari, F., A. Rengakos, and C. Tsagalis, eds., Brill’s Companion to Hesiod. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

  Solmsen, F. Hesiod and Aeschylus. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1949.

  Thalmann, W. G., Conventions of Form and Thought in Early Greek Epic Poetry. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1984.

  Verdenius, W. J. A Commentary on Hesiod: Works and Days, Leiden: Brill, 1985.

  Walcot, P. Hesiod and the Near East. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1966.

  West, M. L. “The Contest of Homer and Hesiod,” Classical Quarterly 17 (1967): 433–50.

  ———. Early Greek Philosophy and the Orient. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

  ———. The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Its Nature, Structure, and Origins. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

  ———. The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

  SOME TRANSLATIONS

  Athanassakis, A. N. Theogony; Works and Days; Shield. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983.

  Evelyn-White, H. G. Hesiod: The Homeric Hymns and Homerica. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1914.

  Lattimore, R. Hesiod: The Works and Days, Theogony, The Shield of Herakles. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959.

  Most, G. W. Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006.

  ———. Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue, Other Fragments. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007.

  West, M. L. Theogony and Works and Days. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

  Glossary/Index

  ACHILLES: Greek hero at Troy. 24, 47, 90, 94, 147, 169

  AEGINA (ē-jīn-a): island just off the harbor of Athens. 94

  AIGIS: means “goat”; the aigis was apparently a powerful fetish made of a goatskin, carried by Zeus and Athena. 33, 168

  AENEAS (ē-nē-as): son of Aphrodite, founder of the Roman race. 94, 96, 99

  AGAVÊ (ga-vē): daughter of Kadmos and Harmonia, mother of Pentheus, king of Thebes. 47, 88, 90, 91

  AIETÊS (ē-e-tez): king of COLCHIS, keeper of the Golden Fleece. 58, 88, 89, 90, 94, 95

  AISON (ē-sōn): father of Jason. 90, 94, 95

  ALKMENÊ (alk-mē-nē): mother of Herakles, wife of Amphitryon. 68, 85, 86, 88, 145, 151, 152, 171

  AMBROSIA: “undying,” the food of the gods. 25, 35, 74, 79

  AMPHITRITÊ (am-fi-trī-tē): a Nereid, consort of Poseidon. 47, 48, 50, 84, 86

  AMPHITRYON: husband of Alkmenê and mortal father of Herakles. 54, 145, 146, 151–156, 158, 166, 170, 171

  ANCHISÊS (an-kī-sez): father of Aeneas by Aphrodite. 94, 99

  APHRODITE: “born of the foam,” the goddess of sexual love.

  APOLLO: son of Zeus and Leto, brother of Artemis. 25, 31, 33, 36, 37, 39, 57, 62, 84, 85, 141, 145–149, 154, 155, 171

  ARES: god of war. 84–87, 91, 115, 146, 147, 154–158, 160, 166–168, 170, 171

  ARGOS: (1) city in the PELOPONNESUS; 31, 33, 145, 166 (2) a monster slain by Hermes. 111, 112

  ARIADNÊ: daughter of Minos. 86, 87, 88, 117

  ARTEMIS: daughter of Zeus and Leto, sister of Apollo. 31, 33, 37, 62, 84, 85, 90, 148

  ASH NYMPHS (Meliai): ash-tree nymphs, sprung from the blood of castrated Sky. 41, 44

  ATHENA: daughter of Zeus, goddess of war and handicrafts. 26, 27, 31, 33, 54, 60, 72, 81, 83, 84, 85, 111, 112, 126, 146, 147, 156, 160, 166, 167, 168, 170, 171

  ATLAS: Titan who holds the world on his shoulders, son of Iapetos. 13, 25, 49, 67, 68, 69, 70, 76, 80, 86, 123

  ATROPOS: “she who cannot be turned aside,” one of the Fates. 45, 46, 83, 164

  BELLEROPHON: hero who, riding on the winged horse Pegasos, killed the Chimaira. 54

  BOEOTIA (bē-o-sha): area whose capital was THEBES, northwest of ATTICA. 20, 31, 34, 104, 135, 137, 145, 153

  BRIAREOS (brē-ar-e-os): “powerful,” one of the Hundred-Handers. 39, 73, 76, 79

  BRIGHTNESS (Aither, ī-ther): child of Darkness and Night. 23, 27, 37, 38

  BRONZE RACE: the third of the five races of humankind. 98–101

  CATALOGUE OF WOMEN, THE: a poem surviving only in fragments, supposedly by Hesiod. 84, 96, 145, 150, 151, 174

  CHAOS: “chasm,” whence everything comes. 16, 21, 22, 23, 27, 36, 37, 38, 79, 80

  CHEIRON (kī-ron): the good centaur, tutor of Jason and Achilles. 94

  CHIMAIRA (kī-mē-ra): “she-goat,” with a lion’s body, a serpent’s tail, and a goat’s head protruding from her back. 54–56

  CHRYSAOR: “he of the golden sword,” who appeared when Perseus cut off Medusa’s head. 49, 53, 90

  CIRCE: “hawk,” a witch, daughter of Helios. 88, 89, 94, 95, 96

  COLCHIS (kol-chis): home of Aietês, at the eastern end of the Black Sea. 94

  CORINTH: city on the isthmus between the Peloponnesus and mainland Greece. 48, 54, 68, 145

  CORINTH, GULF OF: bay between the Peloponnesus and western Greece. 31, 68, 148, 149

  COSMOGONY: “the begetting of the cosmos.” 21

  CRETE: large
island in the Aegean Sea. 24, 25, 28, 66, 88

  CYCLOPÊS (si-klō-pēz): primordial beings who manufacture Zeus’s thunderbolt, children of Earth and Sky. 22, 24, 25, 29

  CYPRUS: large island in the eastern Mediterranean. 42

  CYTHERA (si-ther-a): island south of the Peloponnesus, where Aphrodite was born, according to some accounts. 42, 86

  CYTHEREIA (sith-er-ē-a): a name for Aphrodite, “she of the island of Cythera,” where Aphrodite was born, according to some accounts. 42, 86

  DARKNESS (Erebos): a god who emerged from Chaos. 22, 23, 27, 37, 38, 68

  DAWN (Eos): goddess, daughter of Hyperion. 23, 31, 33, 58, 60, 61, 64, 90, 92, 93, 134

  DAY (Hemera, hē-mer-a): child of Darkness and Night. 23, 27, 37, 38, 77, 80

  DEATH (Thanatos): a god, brother of Sleep. 42, 45, 46, 77, 80

  DELPHI: site of the Oracle of Apollo, in the territory called PHOCIS. 25, 31, 67, 145, 146, 148, 149, 171

  DEMETER: goddess of the wheat harvest. 64, 65, 83, 84, 85, 88, 90, 102, 110, 121, 123, 128, 134, 142, 156, 165

  DESIRE (Himeros): a personification. 27, 35, 42

  DIONÊ (dī-ō-nē): feminine form of “Zeus,” a goddess. 31, 33, 57

  DIONYSOS: god of wine, son of Semelê. 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 134, 136, 169

  DORIS: an Oceanid. 47, 50, 57

  EARTH (Gaia, ghī-a): a primordial goddess. 13, 17, 21–29, 31, 33, 34, 36–41, 44, 47, 50, 62, 66, 67, 73, 74, 75, 80, 81, 83, 112, 156

  ECHIDNA (e-kid-na): daughter of Keto, a woman above and a snake beneath. 24, 52, 54, 56

  EILEITHYIA (ē-lē-thui-a): goddess of childbirth. 84, 85

  EPIMETHEUS: “afterthinker,” brother of Prometheus and husband of Pandora. 67–69, 112, 113

  ERINYS (er-i-nis): spirit of a violated oath (in the plural, Erinyes, the Furies). 23, 41, 44, 66, 142

  ERIS: “strife,” a personification. 46, 101, 109, 142, 157

  EROS: “sexual love,” a primordial being who emerged in the first days of creation. 21, 22, 27, 36, 37, 38, 42, 113, 117

  EURYBIA (ū-rib-i-a): “of wide power,” a Titan. 47, 50, 58, 61

  FATES (Moirai, moi-rī): apportioners of one’s lot in life, daughters of Night. 23, 45, 46, 83, 85, 164

  FURIES (Erinyes, er-in-i-ēz): spirits of blood vengeance, enforcers of oaths, born of the blood that fell from the wound of Kronos’ castration. 23, 66, 142

  GAIA (ghī-a): Earth, a primordial godess. 21, 33, 34, 38, 40, 50

  GERYON (jer-yon): mythical enemy of Herakles who had three bodies fused at the waist. 24, 49, 52, 53, 54, 90

  GIANTS: “earthborn ones,” born of the blood from Kronos’ wound. 23, 34, 41, 44

  GOLDEN FLEECE: sought by Jason. 94, 146, 154

  GOLDEN RACE: the first of the five races of humankind. 98, 99, 114, 115

  GORGONS: monstrous children of Keto. 41, 49, 51, 53, 147, 162, 163

  GRACES (Charites, ka-ri-tes): personifications of feminine charm. 35, 83, 85, 86, 111, 112

  GRAY OLD LADIES (Graiai, grī-ī): mythical beings who had a single tooth and a single eye among them, which they shared. 24, 49, 53

  GYGÊS (ghī-jēz): one of the Hundred-Handers. 73, 76, 79

  HADES: brother of Zeus and Poseidon, lord of the underworld. 24, 52, 64, 65, 77, 78, 80, 81, 84, 90, 99, 115, 128, 162, 163, 164

  HARMONIA: daughter of Ares, wife of Kadmos, founding king of Thebes. 86, 87, 90, 91

  HARPIES: “snatchers,” storm spirits. 49, 50

  HEBÊ (hē-bē): “youth,” goddess who married Herakles on OLYMPOS. 31, 33, 84, 85, 88

  HEKATÊ (he-ka-tē): a powerful, beneficent goddess. 60, 62–64

  HELEN OF TROY: wife of Menelaos and daughter of Zeus and Leda; her adulterous affair with Paris started the Trojan War. 45, 100, 115

  HELIKON, MOUNT: the mountain on which the Muses visited Hesiod. 1–3, 31–34, 135

  HELIOS: sun god, son of Hyperion. 23, 31, 33, 37, 58, 60, 61, 77, 88, 89, 92, 94, 95

  HEPHAISTOS (he-fēs-tos): the craftsman god. 26, 68, 72, 81, 84, 86, 88, 111–113, 147, 156, 162, 164–166

  HERA: sister and wife of Zeus. 31, 33, 52, 54, 64, 65, 84, 85, 88

  HERAKLES: son of Zeus. 1, 18, 19, 24, 41, 45, 52, 54, 57, 64, 68, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92, 145–148, 150, 152, 154–157, 162, 166–168, 170, 171, 178

  HERMES: child of Zeus and Maia, messenger of the gods. 64, 85, 86, 111, 113, 163

  HESPERIDÊS (hes-per-i-dēz): “Nymphs of the West,” who guarded a magical tree that grew at the edge of the world. 19, 45, 46, 49, 54, 68

  HESTIA: “hearth,” a virgin goddess. 64, 65

  HOURS (Horai): the seasons. 83, 112

  HUNDRED-HANDERS (Hekatoncheirês, he-ka-ton-kī-rēz): children of Earth and Sky, powerful beings who assisted Zeus in his battle with the Titans. 22, 24, 25, 29, 40, 73–75, 80

  HYADÊS (hī-a-dêz): “rainy ones,” sisters of the Pleiadês, a constellation. 134

  HYDRA: the seven-headed snake of Lerna, near Argos. 19, 24, 41, 52, 54, 56

  HYPERION (hī-per-i-on): “he who goes above,” a sun god. 23, 37, 58, 61, 94, 95

  IAPETOS (ē-a-pe-tos): a Titan, father of Prometheus. 22, 25, 31, 33, 37, 67, 68, 69, 71, 73, 76, 111

  IASION (ē-as-i-on): lover of Demeter and father of Ploutos by her. 88, 90

  INO (ī-no): a daughter of Kadmos and Harmonia. 90, 91

  IOLKOS: city at the head of the GULF OF PAGASAI (pa-ga-sē), in Thessaly, home of Jason. 94, 146, 154, 169, 171

  IRIS: “rainbow,” messenger of the gods. 49, 50, 77, 86

  IRON RACE: the 158, 159 last of the five races of humankind. 98–103, 116

  ISLES OF THE BLEST: afterworld paradise near the river Ocean. 100, 115

  JASON: hero who recovered the Golden Fleece and married Medea. 94, 95, 146, 154, 169

  KADMEIANS: the descendants of Kadmos; the Thebans. 54, 151

  KADMOS: “man of the east,” founded Thebes. 4, 54, 86, 87, 90, 91, 151, 155

  KAINEUS (kī-nūs): Lapith warrior. 158, 159

  KALOS INSCRIPTIONS: inscriptions on pots celebrating the beauty of young men. 32

  KALYPSO: “concealer,” nymph bedded by Odysseus. 57, 95, 96

  KERBEROS: dog with fifty heads who protected the House of Hades. 24, 52, 54, 56, 77, 80

  KETO (kē-to): “sea monster.” 24, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 56

  KITHAIRON, 57, 67, 69 MOUNT (ki-thē-ron): a mountain near Mount Helikon. 34

  KLOTHO (klō-thō): “spinner,” one of the Fates. 45, 46, 83, 164

  KLYMENÊ (klī-men-ē): an Oceanid, consort of Iapetos. 57, 67, 69

  KOIOS: a Titan, father of Leto. 22, 37, 62, 63

  KOTTOS: one of the Hundred-Handers. 39, 73, 74, 76, 79

  KREIOS: a Titan. 37, 60, 61

  KRONOS: son of Sky and father of Zeus 16, 17, 22–28, 31, 33–35, 37, 41, 60, 62, 64–68, 72–74, 81, 88, 99, 109, 111, 114, 115, 119, 120, 154

  LACHESIS (la-ke-sis): “apportioner,” one of the Fates. 45, 46, 83, 164

  LAPITHS: a Thessalian tribe, fought the centaurs. 158, 159, 161

  LETO: mother of Apollo and Artemis by Zeus. 31, 33, 37, 62, 63, 84, 85, 141, 148, 160, 171

  MEDEA: a witch, daughter of Aietês. 88, 89, 94, 95

  MEDUSA: the Gorgon slain by Perseus. 41, 49, 51, 53, 162, 163

  MEKONÊ (me-kōn-ē): an old name for Sikyon, where the division of the sacrifice took place between men and the Olympian gods. 68, 97

  MEMNON: son of Tithonos and Dawn, king of the Ethiopians. 90, 92, 93

  METIS (mē-tis): “mind,” “cleverness,” an Oceanid, first consort of Zeus. 26, 57, 81, 83, 85

  MINOS: legendary king of Crete, father of Ariadnê. 88, 117

  MNEMOSYNÊ (nē-mos-i-nē): “memory,” a Titan, mother of the Muses. 22, 34, 37, 84, 85

  MOON (Selenê, se-lēn-ē): a goddess, daughter of Hyperion. 23, 31, 33, 58, 60, 61

  MUSES: inspirers of poetry. 1, 2, 22, 31, 33–36, 84, 85, 88, 96, 97, 109, 137, 147, 160

  MYCENAE: bronze age site in the Argive plain.
54, 100, 145, 151, 153, 162

  MYTH OF THE FIVE RACES: 18, 97, 98

  NECTAR: “what overcomes death,” the drink of the gods. 25, 74, 79

  NEMEAN LION: a lion of extraordinary power slain by Herakles. 54

  NEMESIS: “she who gives what is due,” a daughter of Night. 23, 45, 46, 116, 117

  NEREIDS (nē-re-idz): daughters of Nereus, sea nymphs. 24, 94

  NEREUS (nē-rūs): the Old Man of the Sea, a prophetic sea god. 24, 45, 47, 50, 94

  NIGHT (Nyx): a god who emerged from Chaos. 22, 23, 27, 31, 33, 36, 37, 38, 42, 45, 46, 49, 76, 77, 80, 109

  OCEAN: a Titan, the river that flows around the world. 22, 23, 31, 33, 37, 45, 47, 49, 52, 54, 58, 59, 60, 67, 75, 77, 79, 80, 83, 88, 89, 90, 115, 132, 147, 166

  OCEANIDS (o-sē-a-nids): the daughters of Ocean, spirits of the sea. 22, 24, 25, 26, 52, 58, 59, 60, 63, 83, 86, 123

  OEDIPUS: a famous Theban king. 100, 115, 155

  OLMEIOS: a spring of the Muses on Mount Helikon. 31

  OLYMPOS, MOUNT: the abode of the gods, in Thessaly. 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 60, 62, 73, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 84, 88, 96, 100, 109, 112, 114, 115, 116, 119, 146, 153, 155, 160, 171

  ORION: a great hunter made into a constellation. 123, 125, 134

  ORTHOS: two-headed hound of Geryon, child of Echidna and Typhon. 24, 52, 54, 56

  OTHRYS, MOUNT (o-thris): mountain in Thessaly from where the Titans fought the Olympians. 73

  PALLAS: (1) an epithet of Athena; 60, 72, 112, 156 (2) a Titan, consort of Styx. 58, 60, 61, 63

  PANDORA: “all-giver,” woman manufactured by Hephaistos to bring evils to mankind. 18, 26, 27, 68, 97–99, 101, 112, 113

  PARIS: a prince of Troy. 11, 45, 48, 55, 78, 92, 124, 130, 159, 163

  PEGASOS: magical winged horse born from the severed neck of Medusa. 31, 49, 53, 54

  PEIRITHOÖS (pē-rith-o-os): Lapith king, friend of Theseus. 158, 159, 161

  PELIAS (pel-i-as): the wicked uncle of Jason who sent him after the Golden Fleece. 94, 95

  PERMESSOS: a spring of the Muses on Mount Helikon. 31

  PERSEÏS: an Oceanid, mother of Circe. 57, 88, 89

  PERSEPHONE: daughter of Demeter and Zeus, wife of Hades, queen of the underworld. 64, 77, 78, 84, 85

  PERSÊS: (1) brother of Hesiod; 1, 62, 97, 99–104, 109, 110, 118, 120, 121, 125, 134, 135 (2) a Titan, father of Hekatê. 58, 60–63