Showing results by author "Hesiod"

The Theogony (composed c. 700 BC) is a poem by Hesiod (8th-7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods. A theogony is a part of Greek mythology which attempts to articulate reality as a whole. Hesiod's work is a synthesis of various local Greek traditions concerning the gods, organized as a narrative that tells of their origin and how they established control over the Cosmos. 

Among the finest poets of ancient Greece was Hesiod, a contemporary of Homer, who lived in the eighth century B.C. It is still a matter of dispute whether Homer or Hesiod was the earlier poet, and sometimes whether they were one and the same person! At any rate, Hesiod's incredible poetry serves as a major source for our understanding of Greek mythology, farming practices, time keeping and astronomy. In and of itself, the "Works and Days" is unparalleled in its richness and beauty, easily rivaling Homer.

Am Berg Helikon hauchen die Musen Hesiod ihre Stimmen ein und so wird er zum Sänger der Theogonie geweiht. Er schildert das Entstehen der Welt und der einzelnen Göttergenerationen, er erzählt von Prometheus und Pandora, von Giganten und Nymphen und von Zeus' Machtergreifung am Olymp. Nach seiner vielgelobten Übertragung der "Ilias" präsentiert Raoul Schrott nun die 2.700 Jahre alte Quelle griechischer Literatur erfrischend modern und zugänglich.

The title Works and Days suggests a laboring routine lived over and over every day. Ancient Greek poet Hesiod published this farmer's almanac around 700 BC as an instruction in the agricultural arts. On a deeper level, Hesiod binds together two mythological etiologies as a symbol for the hardship that defines the human condition: the story of Prometheus and Pandora and Myth of Five Ages.