Hesiod, Works and Days: An agricultural memo

Edition

For Works and Days, I purchased a combined edition that also included Works and Days, Theogony and the Shield of Heracles. This was not a penguin classics edition as that only had Works and Days, and Theogony and I wanted to also look at The Shield of Heracles and I didn’t want to buy two editions. Heracles of course being also know as Hercules.

The Story

The story is written in the style of a letter from one brother to another, to emplore him to work hard to gain riches.

It details the five generations of man; The first, the Golden, who lived in the time of Cronos. The Second, the Silver, who Zeus made but destroyed because they woul not sacrifice to the Olympians. The Third, the Bronze, they made everything from bronze including their houses. The Fourth, the Heros and demi-gods (Heracles, Arcillies etc.), who died in battle. The Fifth, the Iron, the current state of man. The ones who make iron tools and toil at hard labour.

Works and Days also spend a great deal of time on how to tell the seasons and what agricultural work should be done in each season. This includes when to plant and when and how to harvest. Simple hints like first shapen your sickle are sprinkeled throughout. There is information on the times of year to sail as this pertains to the seasons. Finally, there is a count of the days of the month and which of them are good for what, including, which ones are holy days and feast days.

Reflections

Works and Days is an interesting insight into the agricultural realities of the ancient Greek world and while it is not a definative “How to”, as we would understand it now, it is full of tips and tricks, to make the process easier on the brother.

There is no seperation between things that are agricultural in nature and those that are religious but rather the religious, because it permeates everything, is seen as a natural part of wisdom in how to have a good life and be prosperous.

It seems to be a more natural accounting for time and season compared to our modern day clocks and calanders. You will know when to do things by the signs of the seasons rather than by painstaking counting of time and yet it still numbers the days of the month and their usage.

Comparisons

The one comparison I can make with this text is: Works and Days expands our understanding of the Greek gods and how they interact with the everyday business and in agriculture. It shows us a gentler, in some ways, side of the gods. By contrast, the Iliad and the Odyssey give us a base of how the gods interact with battle and great acts. There is still sacrifice for the appeasement of the gods but we do not see them drowning shipsful of men, because they are angry, as we see in the Odyssey.

Have you read the Works and Days? If so what did you think?
Does this inspire you to read Works and Days? If so tell me what you think when your done!

Buy a copy of Works and Days
Read my post on The Iliad and The Odyssey