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vaporization's review against another edition
narrator yells at you (Perses, but you) to do work and stop being lazy
herm333s's review against another edition
4.0
Thoroughly enjoyed this.
The notes and the glossary add a layer of understanding that made the reading experience better compared to my attempted approach back in freshman year.
I was looking to read only the Theogony, but Works and Days offers-- I might say-- a human perspective to a life in ancient Greece. A lost time where we went about our labors by taking guidance in the elements, the planets and the gods.
I found particularly interesting the subject of Justice and its actual absence (!) in nature, as well as other pieces of wisdom that still hold in spite of their presence in a rather misogynistic and patriarchal poem.
In Theogony, the imagery works wonders to showcase the epic resurgence and destruction of celestial bodies and entities. Which makes the poem first a theogony but simultaneously a cosmogony.
Already it being a misogynistic narrative, it was surprising to witness the clear intent of this in the creation of Pandora, based on Zeus's wrath and revenge.
Some highlights for me were Prometheus's story, which feeds my interest in the role of the trickster in cultures. As well as the visit to Tartarus and how it mirrors Olympus. The descriptions of the layering of the universe, its limits and sources, and the variety of gods and entities that reside there.
The story of Styx and her role as the gods' oath was remarkable and a subject I'm interested on researching in the future.
Both the translator and scholar of this particular edition underline two important details that I very much appreciated and that help understand the context and use of such poems.
It is through Hesiod that the poetic voice is born. It seems that here we encounter for the first time a narrator with its own characteristics and a role in the story, thereby changing poetry as a genre.
There is also an explanation on how Theogony, which already carries a prologue, functions itself as a prologue or introduction to what is known as the Catalogue of Women, a supposedly lost text that detailed the mating of mortal women with gods.
Implying that works such as the Theogony and other epic poems were collectively used as proof of godly lineage to the different aristocrats and families that held power. Here lay the evidence to justify their heavenly--or hellish-- ancestry.
The notes and the glossary add a layer of understanding that made the reading experience better compared to my attempted approach back in freshman year.
I was looking to read only the Theogony, but Works and Days offers-- I might say-- a human perspective to a life in ancient Greece. A lost time where we went about our labors by taking guidance in the elements, the planets and the gods.
I found particularly interesting the subject of Justice and its actual absence (!) in nature, as well as other pieces of wisdom that still hold in spite of their presence in a rather misogynistic and patriarchal poem.
In Theogony, the imagery works wonders to showcase the epic resurgence and destruction of celestial bodies and entities. Which makes the poem first a theogony but simultaneously a cosmogony.
Already it being a misogynistic narrative, it was surprising to witness the clear intent of this in the creation of Pandora, based on Zeus's wrath and revenge.
Some highlights for me were Prometheus's story, which feeds my interest in the role of the trickster in cultures. As well as the visit to Tartarus and how it mirrors Olympus. The descriptions of the layering of the universe, its limits and sources, and the variety of gods and entities that reside there.
The story of Styx and her role as the gods' oath was remarkable and a subject I'm interested on researching in the future.
Both the translator and scholar of this particular edition underline two important details that I very much appreciated and that help understand the context and use of such poems.
It is through Hesiod that the poetic voice is born. It seems that here we encounter for the first time a narrator with its own characteristics and a role in the story, thereby changing poetry as a genre.
There is also an explanation on how Theogony, which already carries a prologue, functions itself as a prologue or introduction to what is known as the Catalogue of Women, a supposedly lost text that detailed the mating of mortal women with gods.
Implying that works such as the Theogony and other epic poems were collectively used as proof of godly lineage to the different aristocrats and families that held power. Here lay the evidence to justify their heavenly--or hellish-- ancestry.
casparb's review against another edition
3.0
A pleasant & brief time with the exception of the familiar Woman Bad section. Strange how one can be beautiful-ankled and also made with and for evil.
caity's review against another edition
funny
3.75
(Read A. E. Stallings translation)
I found Stallings to be entertaining and comedic in her introduction and descriptions. I also found her translation to be entertaining and rhythmic. Hesiod's advice to his brother seems alright (aside from the misogyny) one of my favourite lines was "But he who can't think for himself, nor once
Learn from another, is a useless dunce."
I found Stallings to be entertaining and comedic in her introduction and descriptions. I also found her translation to be entertaining and rhythmic. Hesiod's advice to his brother seems alright (aside from the misogyny) one of my favourite lines was "But he who can't think for himself, nor once
Learn from another, is a useless dunce."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
benedettal's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fun quick read. It’s cool just because it’s so old, but really it’s just a list of names and relations, and then a list of duties/advice on how to live your life. Feels very biblical, but without the absurd page count. So yeah, it has a lot of value as a historical relic, and don’t get me wrong I got joy out of that fact alone, but it doesn’t have massive literary (unless you read the original) or entertainment value. Nice to see some random heroes mentioned here and there though, really shows how ancient the myths actually were and kinda puts reading, say, the Aeneid or even the Metamorphoses really into perspective.
mxmorganic's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
The 5*’s are for West’s translation, which is excellent - it reads like Hesiod’s Greek while in fact being very accessible, easily understood English.
Note though that I think Works & Days is a drag - the second half bored me to death. The first half, though, and all of the Theogony - those are absolutely worth the read!
Note though that I think Works & Days is a drag - the second half bored me to death. The first half, though, and all of the Theogony - those are absolutely worth the read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Incest
Minor: War, Violence, and Slavery
jackpumpkinhead's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
"Inferiority can be got in droves, easily: the road is smooth, and she lives very near."
"For the morning accounts for a third of the work:
morning forwards the journey, forwards the job,
morning, whose appearance puts many a man
on the road, and sets the yoke on many an ox."
"In due season bring a wife into your house, when you are neither many years short of thirty nor many beyond it: this is your seasonable marriage." you're not the boss of me Hesiod.
"For the morning accounts for a third of the work:
morning forwards the journey, forwards the job,
morning, whose appearance puts many a man
on the road, and sets the yoke on many an ox."
"In due season bring a wife into your house, when you are neither many years short of thirty nor many beyond it: this is your seasonable marriage." you're not the boss of me Hesiod.