Hesiod, born in Boeotia, a section of Greece
somewhat northwest of Athens, lived sometime after Homer II or close to
the end of the 8th Centruy B.C. Two main poems ascribed to him are extant,
namely: Works and Days and Theogony. These represent the
best didactic poetry of the Greeks. Hesiod and his brother, Perses, were
farmers as was their father. Perses was an idler or ne'er-do-well while
Hesiod in addition to farming felt impelled to sing and preach. He was
murdered presumably near the temple of Zeus in Nemea.
Works and Days is comprised of four parts (1) an exhortation
to his brother Perses (2) a collection of rules for husbandry and navigation
(3) ethical and religious precepts and (4) a calendar of lucky and unlucky
days. Sarton makes the interesting comment that Heriod in discussing the
Five Ages of the World considered finally the age of iron as the present
age of sorrow, hatred and strife. Sarton points out that Hesiod was living
in an age similar to our own in which thoughtful men were contemplating
the ruin, misery, and chaos that are the sequel of war and moral decline,
and when in their disillusionment they were tempted to say: "The world
is getting worse every day, it must needs come to an end." Certainly
this kind of social pessimism may strike us as modern.
The part dealing with husbandry was designed to encourage his brother
Perses to make an honest living by following the proper rules of producing
crops in order that he might find "a way to pay your debts and avoid
hunger." Sarton points out that until 1951 it was correct to state
that Hesiod's Works and Days was the first "Farmers' Almanac."
However, a cuneiform tablet discovered in Nippur dated about 1700 B.C.
was deciphered in which a farmer gave instructions to his son. Duties throughout
the year were explained in what has now been called a "Sumerian Farmer's
Almanac": (Kramer, S.N. 1951, Scientific American, pages 54-55).
Sarton makes a final comment worthy of citation relative to the final
sections of Works and Days: "The farmer was aware of many mysteries
surrounding and threatening him; he was every day at the mercy of the elements
and of luck. It was not enough for him to do his best in a practical way;
he must be humble and full of awe" (A History of Science -
page 151).
Hesiodus, The Works and Days, Theogony, The
Shield of Herakies, trans. by Richmond Lattimore, Univ. of Michigan
Press, Ann Arbor, 1959.
