Of the many works attributed to Hesiod, three survive complete and many more in fragmentary state. Our witnesses include Alexandrian papyri, some dating from as early as the 1st century BC, and manuscripts written from the eleventh century forward. Demetrius Chalcondyles issued the first printed edition (
editio princeps) of
Works and Days, possibly at Milan, probably in 1493. In 1495 Aldus Manutius published the complete works at Venice.
Hesiod's works, especially
Works and Days, are from the view of the small independent farmer, while Homer's view is from nobility or the rich. Even with these differences, they share some beliefs regarding work ethic, justice, and consideration of material items.
Some (e.g. A. D. Momigliano) have detected a proto-historical perspective in Hesiod. This is rejected by Paul Cartledge as Hesiod advocates a not-forgetting without any attempt at verification.
Works and Days
Hesiod wrote a poem of some 800 verses, the
Works and Days, which revolves around two general truths: labour is the universal lot of Man, but he who is willing to work will get by. Scholars have interpreted this work against a background of agrarian crisis in mainland Greece, which inspired a wave of documented colonisation in search of new land. This poem is one of the earliest known musings on economic thought.
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. 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.
Theogony
"Theogony," a poem which uses the same epic verse-form as the "Works and Days", is also attributed to Hesiod. Despite the different subject matter, most scholars, with some notable exceptions (like Evelyn-White), believe that the two works were written by the same man. As M.L. West writes, "Both bear the marks of a distinct personality: a surly, conservative countryman, given to reflection, no lover of women or life, who felt the gods' presence heavy about him."
The
Theogony concerns the origins of the world (cosmogony) and of the gods (theogony), beginning with Gaia, Chaos and Eros, and shows a special interest in genealogy. Embedded in Greek myth, there remain fragments of quite variant tales, hinting at the rich variety of myth that once existed, city by city; but Hesiod's retelling of the old stories became, according to the fifth-century historian Herodotus, the accepted version that linked all Hellenes.
The creation myth in Hesiod has long been held to have Eastern influences, such as the Hittite Song of Kumarbi and the Babylonian Enuma Elis. This cultural crossover would have occurred in the eighth and ninth century Greek trading colonies such as Al Mina in North Syria. (For more discussion, read Robin Lane Fox's
Travelling Heroes and Walcot's
Hesiod and the Near East.)
Other writings
A short poem traditionally no longer attributed to Hesiod is
The Shield of Heracles ( / Aspis H?rakleous). This survives complete; the other works discussed in this section survive only in quotations or papyri copies which are often damaged.
Classical authors also attributed to Hesiod a lengthy genealogical poem known as
Catalogue of Women or
Ehoiae (because sections began with the Greek words
? hoi?, "Or like the one who ..."). It was a mythological catalogue of the mortal women who had mated with gods, and of the offspring and descendants of these unions.
Several additional poems were sometimes ascribed to Hesiod:
- Aegimius
- Astrice
- Chironis Hypothecae
- Idaei Dactyli
- Wedding of Ceyx
- Great Works (presumably an expanded Works and Days)
- Great Eoiae (presumably an expanded Catalogue of Women)
- Melampodia
- Ornithomantia
Scholars generally classify all these as later examples of the poetic tradition to which Hesiod belonged, not as the work of Hesiod himself. The
Shield, in particular, appears to be an expansion of one of the genealogical poems, taking its cue from Homer's description of the Shield of Achilles.