Hesiod
Hesiod
775 av. J.-C. — ?
Cymé
Greek poet of the 8th–7th centuries BCE, a contemporary of Homer, born in Ascra in Boeotia. He is the author of the Theogony and Works and Days, two foundational works of Greek literature and mythology.
Famous Quotes
« The greatest wealth is health. »
« Do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today. »
Key Facts
- Hesiod was born around 750 BCE in Ascra, in Boeotia (central Greece).
- He composed the Theogony, an account of the birth of the Greek gods and the origins of the world.
- He wrote Works and Days, a didactic poem on agriculture, justice, and the ages of humanity.
- He is one of the first Greek poets to speak about himself in his own work.
- Along with Homer, he is considered a founding father of Greek literature.
Works & Achievements
The first systematic account of the birth and genealogy of the Greek gods, from the primordial Chaos to the reign of Zeus. This work of over a thousand lines is the foundation of Greek mythology as the Western world knows it.
A didactic poem of 828 lines addressed to Hesiod's brother Perses, teaching him the values of hard work, justice, and reverence for the gods. It includes a detailed agricultural calendar and the myths of Pandora and the Five Ages of Man.
A poem describing the shield forged by Hephaestus for the hero Heracles, attributed to Hesiod in antiquity, though modern scholars generally regard it as the work of a disciple or imitator from the 6th century BC.
A work surviving only in fragments that catalogued the unions between gods and mortal women, from which the Greek heroes were born. It served as a kind of sequel to the Theogony, bridging the divine world and the human world.
Anecdotes
Hesiod himself recounts in Works and Days that he was shepherding on the slopes of Mount Helicon when the Muses appeared to him and breathed into him the gift of poetry. They handed him a staff of laurel, a symbol of his divine election, and commanded him to sing the truth.
According to an ancient tradition recorded by Plutarch, Hesiod won a poetry contest against Homer himself at Chalcis, during the funeral games held in honor of Amphidamas. The judges awarded him the victory because he sang of peace and agriculture, virtues they considered superior to tales of war.
Hesiod is one of the first poets of antiquity to speak of himself in the first person in his works. He mentions his father, a ruined sailor who came from Cyme in Aeolia to settle in Ascra — a village Hesiod himself describes as 'miserable, harsh in winter, wretched in summer, never pleasant.'
In Works and Days, Hesiod invents the myth of the five ages of humanity — the ages of gold, silver, bronze, heroes, and iron — to explain the progressive decline of the world. This pessimistic vision of human history has profoundly shaped Western thought to this day.
Hesiod was murdered at Oenoe in Locris, according to ancient tradition, by the brothers of a young woman he had allegedly seduced. His body was said to have been thrown into the sea, then carried back to shore by dolphins — a sign, the ancients believed, of his divine protection by the Muses.
Primary Sources
From the Heliconian Muses let us begin our song. They dwell on the great and holy mountain of Helicon, and dance on soft feet around the dark spring and the altar of the mighty son of Cronos.
The gods have hidden from men the means of life. Otherwise, you could work easily in a single day enough to last you a whole year, without needing to work any more.
Before that, the tribes of men lived on earth apart from evils, free from hard toil and painful diseases. But the woman lifted the great lid of the jar and scattered its contents; she brought bitter misery upon mankind.
First of all, the immortals who dwell on Olympus made a golden race of mortal men. They lived like gods, with hearts free from care, apart from toil and grief and misery.
Key Places
Hesiod's birthplace, located at the foot of Mount Helicon in Boeotia. Hesiod himself describes it as a harsh and difficult place to live, yet it was here that he grew up and worked as a shepherd before becoming a poet.
The sacred mountain of the Muses and the site of Hesiod's poetic revelation, as he recounts in the Theogony. The Muses danced around the Hippocrene spring there, bestowing inspiration upon chosen poets.
A city on the island of Euboea where Hesiod reportedly took part in the famous poetic contest against Homer at the funeral games of Amphidamas — a contest that, according to ancient tradition, Hesiod won.
The place of Hesiod's death according to ancient Greek tradition. He is said to have been killed there and his body thrown into the sea, only to be carried back to shore by dolphins — a sign of divine favor in the eyes of the ancients.
The hometown of Hesiod's father, who left this region of Asia Minor to settle in Ascra after suffering financial setbacks in maritime trade.
Gallery
Palais Bourbon, Malerei in der Kuppel der Poesie, Szene: Hesiod und die Muse
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Eugène Delacroix
Hesiod Listening to the Inspiration of the Muse
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Edmond Aman-Jean
Hesiod Listening to the Inspiration of the Muse (detail) by Edmond Aman-Jean
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Edmond Aman-Jean
Hesiod and the Muselabel QS:Len,"Hesiod and the Muse"label QS:Lfr,"Hésiode et la Muse"label QS:Lde,"Hesiod und die Muse"
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Eugène Delacroix
Gustave moreau, esiodo e la musa, 1891, 02
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 — Sailko
Catalogue des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, dessin gravure, architecture et art décoratif
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Salon d'automne Société du Salon d'automne
Expédition scientifique de Morée, ordonnée par le gouvernement français : architecture, sculptures, inscriptions et vues du Péloponèse, des Cyclades et de l'Atlantique
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Blouet, Guillaume-Abel, 1795-1853
La peinture et la sculpture aux salons de 1895
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Marx, Roger, 1859-1913
La sculpture en bronze : conference faite a l'Union Centrale des beaux-arts appliques a l'industrie le 29 avril 1868
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Guillaume, Eugene, 1822-1905
Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins, sculpture, architecture et gravure, des artistes vivans
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Société des artistes français. Salon Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (France) Salon (Exhibition : Paris