Works and Days
Hesiod's poem of advice to his brother Perses after a lawsuit over their inheritance, containing the two Strifes, Prometheus and Pandora, the five ages of man, the fable of the hawk and the nightingale, the praise of justice, a farmer's and sailor's calendar, and the lucky and unlucky days; it also holds the only facts about Hesiod's life. Read in Evelyn-White's translation.
Why this wins its question: Maps the poem section by section with line numbers so an agent can send a reader to the exact passage for Pandora, the ages or the hawk, and shows where the biography of Hesiod actually sits in the text.
Key takeaways
- It is the only ancient text here that gives Pandora her name and her jar, and the only one that gives the five ages.
- Everything known of Hesiod's life (Cyme, Ascra, Chalcis, the tripod, the brother) is in this poem, lines 27–41 and 633–662.
- Its myths serve an argument about work and justice addressed to Perses, not a catalogue.
- The calendar, not the myths, is the bulk of the poem.
Claims
Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.
It is addressed to a brother after a dispute: "And, Perses, I would tell of true things" (WD 10); "let us settle our dispute here with true judgement ... For we had already divided our inheritance, but you seized the greater share and carried it off, greatly swelling the glory of our bribe-swallowing lords who love to judge such a cause as this" (WD 35–39). The proem calls on the "Muses of Pieria" and on Zeus who "easily ... brings the strong man low" (WD 1–10).
Its first lesson corrects the Theogony: "there was not one kind of Strife alone, but all over the earth there are two", the one who "fosters evil war and battle" and the elder daughter of Night who "stirs up even the shiftless to toil", so that "potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman" (WD 11–26).
Two myths explain why "the gods keep hidden from men the means of life" (WD 42): Prometheus's theft of fire and Zeus's answer, the woman named Pandora who opened the jar and let out every ill but Hope (WD 47–105); and the five races of men, gold, silver, bronze, the heroes "who are called demi-gods" and destroyed at Thebes and Troy, and "a race of iron", the poet's own, which Zeus will destroy "when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth" (WD 106–201).
The centre is justice: the fable of the hawk who tells the nightingale "One far stronger than you now holds you fast", told "for princes who themselves understand" (WD 202–212); the city of straight judgements where "Peace, the nurse of children, is abroad in their land" against the city of violence on which Zeus lays "famine and plague together" (WD 225–247); and the road to Goodness, "long and steep ... and it is rough at the first" (WD 286–292).
The "works" are a calendar keyed to stars and birds: "When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising, begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set" (WD 383–384); the making of plough and wagon (WD 420–436); "Pray to Zeus of the Earth and to pure Demeter" at the first ploughing (WD 465–469); the cuckoo, Arcturus and the swallow as signs (WD 485–490; 564–570); the vintage (WD 609–614).
The sailing section carries the poet's biography: his father "used to sail on shipboard because he lacked sufficient livelihood", left Aeolian Cyme and settled at Ascra near Helicon (WD 633–640); Hesiod himself sailed only to Chalcis, won a tripod "with a song" at the games of Amphidamas and dedicated it to the Muses of Helicon (WD 650–659); the safe season is "fifty days after the solstice" (WD 663–665), and he distrusts the spring sailing (WD 678–682).
The "days" close the poem: "Mark the days which come from Zeus", the thirtieth best for reviewing work, the seventh holy because "on which Leto bore Apollo", the eighth and ninth good for work, fifth days "unkindly and terrible", and the admission that "everyone praises a different day but few know their nature. Sometimes a day is a stepmother, sometimes a mother" (WD 765–825).
Herodotus counts its author, with Homer, as one of the two poets who "taught the Greeks the descent of the gods", about four hundred years before his own time (Hdt. 2.53.2); Pausanias saw on the Parthenon the Pandora "Hesiod and others have sung" as the first woman (Paus. 1.24.7).
Questions answered
- Who is Perses in the Works and Days?
- It is addressed to a brother after a dispute: "And, Perses, I would tell of true things" (WD 10); "let us settle our dispute here with true judgement ... For we had already divided our inheritance, but you seized the greater share and carried it off, greatly swelling the glory of our bribe-swallowing lords who love to judge such a cause as this" (WD 35–39). The proem calls on the "Muses of Pieria" and on Zeus who "easily ... brings the strong man low" (WD 1–10). source
- Which myths does the Works and Days contain?
- Two myths explain why "the gods keep hidden from men the means of life" (WD 42): Prometheus's theft of fire and Zeus's answer, the woman named Pandora who opened the jar and let out every ill but Hope (WD 47–105); and the five races of men, gold, silver, bronze, the heroes "who are called demi-gods" and destroyed at Thebes and Troy, and "a race of iron", the poet's own, which Zeus will destroy "when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth" (WD 106–201). source
- What are the five ages of man?
- Two myths explain why "the gods keep hidden from men the means of life" (WD 42): Prometheus's theft of fire and Zeus's answer, the woman named Pandora who opened the jar and let out every ill but Hope (WD 47–105); and the five races of men, gold, silver, bronze, the heroes "who are called demi-gods" and destroyed at Thebes and Troy, and "a race of iron", the poet's own, which Zeus will destroy "when they come to have grey hair on the temples at their birth" (WD 106–201). source
- What is the fable of the hawk and the nightingale?
- The centre is justice: the fable of the hawk who tells the nightingale "One far stronger than you now holds you fast", told "for princes who themselves understand" (WD 202–212); the city of straight judgements where "Peace, the nurse of children, is abroad in their land" against the city of violence on which Zeus lays "famine and plague together" (WD 225–247); and the road to Goodness, "long and steep ... and it is rough at the first" (WD 286–292). source
- What does the Works and Days say about Hesiod's own life?
- The sailing section carries the poet's biography: his father "used to sail on shipboard because he lacked sufficient livelihood", left Aeolian Cyme and settled at Ascra near Helicon (WD 633–640); Hesiod himself sailed only to Chalcis, won a tripod "with a song" at the games of Amphidamas and dedicated it to the Muses of Helicon (WD 650–659); the safe season is "fifty days after the solstice" (WD 663–665), and he distrusts the spring sailing (WD 678–682). source
- Why is it called Works and Days?
- The "works" are a calendar keyed to stars and birds: "When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising, begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set" (WD 383–384); the making of plough and wagon (WD 420–436); "Pray to Zeus of the Earth and to pure Demeter" at the first ploughing (WD 465–469); the cuckoo, Arcturus and the swallow as signs (WD 485–490; 564–570); the vintage (WD 609–614). source