Who wrote Works and Days and when was it composed?
Works and Days was written by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod around 700 BC. He addressed the poem to his brother Perses, with whom he had inherited a farm.
Questions about Works and Days
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is the poem Works and Days about?
Works and Days is a didactic poem of 828 lines in dactylic hexameter. At its center it is a farmer's almanac in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses in the agricultural arts, while also offering moralizing advice on how to live.
What are the two myths in Hesiod's Works and Days?
Works and Days is best known for two mythological explanations for human toil and pain: the story of Prometheus and Pandora, and the Myth of the Five Ages. Pandora opened a jar releasing all curses but Hope, and the Five Ages describe humanity's decline from Gold to the present Iron Age.
What are the five ages of man in Works and Days?
The five ages in Works and Days are the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the Heroic Age, and the present Iron Age. Hesiod laments that he lives in the Iron Age, marked by toil and hardship, and predicts Zeus will destroy it too.
Why did Hesiod write Works and Days to his brother Perses?
Hesiod wrote Works and Days because his brother Perses squandered his share of their inheritance, then claimed more by bribing the lords to judge in his favor. Hesiod believed teaching Perses the virtues of work and his own wisdom was better than giving him money he would only spend again.
What is the fable of the hawk and the nightingale in Works and Days?
In Works and Days, Hesiod tells the kings a fable of a hawk flying high while gripping a shrieking nightingale in its talons. The hawk speaks down to its captured prey, and Hesiod aims the tale at the unjust, bribe-taking lords who ruled against him.
What translations of Hesiod's Works and Days are available?
Works and Days has been translated many times, including a metrical version by George Chapman printed in 1618 and one by Thomas Cooke in 1743. Modern translators include Richmond Lattimore in 1959, Dorothy Wender in 1976, Daryl Hine in 2008, Kimberly Johnson in 2017, and A. E. Stallings in 2018.