Epic of Work and Days (Pinyin: Ping - Translated Classics) -- Reissue

Author: Hesiod (Ancient Greece), translated by Zhang Zhuming and Jiang Ping
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: Hesiod is the earliest poet after Homer in Ancient Greece, renowned for his epic poems Works and Days and Theogony. It is well-known that Homer was merely a symbol of blind bards who earned a living by singing heroic epics; The Iliad and The Odyssey were compiled from numerous short songs passed down by the people, whose true authors were the masses, a nation, and many generations. Hesiod, however, was a real historical figure, and Works and Days, Theogony, and other works are considered his personal creations. Hesiod was a pioneer individual writer in Ancient Greece. His era of life and creation, according to Herodotus in The Histories, Book 2, paragraph 53, is estimated to be around the mid-9th century BC. However, in the 12th century, the Byzantine poet and scholar John Zonaras, in Life of Hesiod, cited Aristotle’s view that Hesiod was only one generation older than the philosopher Pythagoras, which would place him no earlier than the 7th century BC. The two opinions differ greatly. As for other ancient historians and scholars, although many mentioned Hesiod, none specified his era. Since the modern era, scholars have tended to believe that Hesiod lived and created during the first half of the 8th century BC. This aligns with the social landscape reflected in Works and Days. Hesiod was born into a farming family in Boeotia, central Greece. According to the lines 633 and following in Works and Days, his father was originally from the Ionian immigrant city of Cyme in Asia Minor, a seafarer who engaged in maritime trade in addition to farming. Driven by "terrible poverty," he moved to Ascra in Boeotia, a village under the jurisdiction of the Thespian city-state. Near the Helicon Mountain, where the mythical Muses were said to roam, he cleared land, raised livestock, and perhaps even sailed to sea during the off-season, gradually accumulating wealth through hard work and frugality, eventually becoming a comfortable family with two sons, Hesiod and Perses. Lines 37–39 of Works and Days tell us that after his father’s death, the two brothers divided the inheritance, and Perses, by bribing the Thespian basileus (ruler), "obtained and took the larger share." Later, Perses, due to idleness or extravagance, became poor and came to Hesiod for relief or attempted to stir up litigation again. Works and Days, this long epic, was inspired by the poet in this situation, serving both as a reprimand to his brother and as a warning to the world. As for Hesiod himself, based on Works and Days and Theogony (which I believe was the work of another author), we can trust that he lived a simple and hardworking life as a farmer and shepherd after the inheritance division. The only difference between him and his father was that he lived a stable life, always staying in his hometown, "never having sailed to the vast sea." The only other event in his life that we know of is that he attended the funeral games of Amphidamas in Chalcis, Euboea, won a prize in the poetry competition, and received a cauldron. He dedicated it to the Muses on Helicon Mountain, thanking them for granting him wisdom and guiding him on the glorious path of poetic creation. Some details of this competition have been preserved. (1) Zonaras, in Life of Hesiod, records that those who believed Hesiod and Homer were contemporaries reported that when King Amphidamas of Euboea died, the two poets competed, and Hesiod won. The chair of the judging committee, the deceased’s brother Panides, awarded the prize to Hesiod, reasoning that he taught peace and diligence, while Homer taught war and slaughter. (2) The 2nd-century geographer and historian Pausanias, in Description of Greece, wrote that during his time, the cauldron Hesiod won in Chalcis was still displayed on Helicon Mountain.