Works and Days
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Works and Days (in ancient Greek Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι / Erga kaí Hemérai, which sometimes goes by the Latin name Opera et Dies, as in the OCT) is a Greek poem of some 800 verses written by Hesiod (around 700 BC). The poem revolves around two general truths: labour is the universal lot of Man, but he who is willing to work will get by. Scholars have seen this work against a background of agrarian crisis in mainland Greece, which inspired a wave of documented colonisations in search of new land.
This work lays out the five Ages of Man, as well as containing advice and wisdom, prescribing a life of honest labour and attacking idleness and unjust judges (like those who decided in favour of Perses) as well as the practice of usury. It describes immortals who roam the earth watching over justice and injustice[1]. The poem regards labor as the source of all good, in that both gods and men hate the idle, who resemble drones in a hive[2].
Works and Days contains the earliest recorded mention of the star Sirius, as the Greek Σείριος (Seirios, "glowing" or "scorcher").
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hesiod, Works and Days, Canto III, [250]: "Verily upon the earth are thrice ten thousand immortals of the host of Zeus, guardians of mortal man. They watch both justice and injustice, robed in mist, roaming abroad upon the earth". (cf. also, J. A. Symonds, p. 179).
- ^ Hesiod, Works and Days, [300]: "Both gods and men are angry with a man who lives idle, for in nature he is like the stingless drones who waste the labor of the bees, eating without working".
[edit] Further reading
- Tandy, David W., and Neale, Walter C. [translators], Works and Days: a translation and commentary for the social sciences, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. ISBN 0520203836
[edit] External links
- Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica, WORKS AND DAYS - Online Medieval and Classical Library Release #8
- Hesiod, Works and Days, Translated from the Greek by Mr. Cooke (London, 1728)
