Welcome back readers.

Today (Feb 4 2024) we officially start our second read of this year: Hesiod’s ‘Theogony’ and ‘Works and Days’. Technically, these are two separate poems, but they are often grouped together so we have decided to read them that way. This week we will be reading Theogony lines 1 - 500.

I will include a breakdown of our reading/discussion post schedule at the bottom of this post. For our full 2024 reading schedule, click here.

Once we finish 'Works & Days' we will be taking a break for a week. Following this, we will be starting the Homeric Hymns with possibly the most famous hymn of all: 'The Hymn to Demeter'.

Hesiod

Hesiod lived and wrote around 700 BCE. He was one of the earliest epic didactic poets that we know of and possibly the oldest (European) poet we have surviving material from. He wrote a few works, but he is best known for ‘Theogony’ and ‘Works and Days’, mainly because these are the poems that we have from him that remain mostly intact. Hesiod is usually associated with Homer, because both writers are the earliest that we have on record who wrote about the Greek myths. In many ways, Hesiod and Homer created what we know as the Greek mythos. We read Homer last year, so this year we wanted to give Hesiod a bit of attention.

Both ‘Theogony’ and ‘Works and Days’ are written in verse format. I have compiled a translation guide here.

Theogony:

‘Theogony’ tells the story of the origins of the gods. It details how the gods were born and how Zeus became the leader of Olympus. It also provides us with the story of the Titanomachy – the big war between the gods (Zeus’ generation) and the Titans. It is more sombre than Homer’s tales of the gods, but still seen as a solid foundation to the mythos. Hesiod also includes the beginning of the story of Pandora here.

‘Theogony’ is seen as the more challenging of the two poems as there are parts of it that read like lists of names. My advice is to skim read the parts that are lists of names, because most of the time the names that matter will crop up again, so you don't have to worry about memorising them. I would also suggest listening to this poem via audiobook, if you can.

Works and Days:

‘Works and Days’ is the second of the poems. It was written to Hesiod’s brother, who apparently tried to cheat him out of his inheritance. It mainly deals with justice and everyday peasant life, with bits of stories about the gods included. He also continues the story of the first woman, Pandora. Despite being set more in the mortal world, this poem is seen as a lot of fun to read.

Reading/Discussion Post Schedule:

Start Date: 04/02/24

Week 1: Theogony (lines 1 - 500) - 10/02/24

Week 2: Theogony (lines 500 - 1022) - 17/02/24

Week 3: Works and Days (complete poem) - 24/02/24

As usual, the dates provided above are the days on which we will be discussing the week's (specified) reading material. If you chose to read at a different pace, you can also join in during the discussions as long as you keep in mind that spoilers will be limited in each post to the point we have read up to during that week.

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Happy reading everyone! This is my first time reading Hesiod, so I'm looking forward to it.