Hesiod's Theogony Functions As the Term Paper

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(vs. 225, 17.) Hesiod continues to struggle with the Eris in Works and Days and that of Theogony, confusing the second Strife and the good Eris. Walcot says that Hesiod falters most by comprising a description of order, first presenting the good Eris (vs. 12) and then the bad (vs. 14); the bad again (vs. 14-16), and then a return to the good Eris (vs. 17-26). Later the pattern repeats itself with dike and hybris, and then again with the myth of the ages of mankind.

The literary scheme made available by Wolcot presents itself repeatedly throughout the text, drawing the reader's attention not only to the story and rhythm, but its historical contexts so frequently addressed and the personal importance that specific part of the story played to Hesiod. Unlike a fictional endeavor, the stories Hesiod presents in Theogony are that of the gods who limned the dreams of his early life and the actualities of his quotidian existence; their personal importance cannot be underplayed. The use of this repetitive literary rhythm expands through the generations of gold, silver, bronze, heroes, and iron. Wolcot draws attention to the "most remarkable curious position occupied by some of the heroes after their death." The differences are settled by Zeus in the Isles of the Blessed, where their life is like that of the men of the golden age during life, according to Hesiod. The tale ends with the closure of the ring composition, and Hesiod again surmounts the tale of Eris by presenting himself, ultimately, as her brother.

If the curious position of the Eris dichotomies presented in the start of Theogony, particularly when compared to Works and Days is to be solved by inserting Hesiod as Eris' older brother, then the idea of Perses as a convenient poetic vehicle is again put into question. The scholar must question the literary and textual idiosyncrasies in Theogony and, instead of merely relating them to the Hitite myths and Near East prototypes to which Dornseiff draws alarm, draw a new, disctinct parallel to the writer, his works, and his own life. Biographically, the connection to the external cultural works to which Hesiod has been affiliated is grounded in the archeological work that suggests conctact between the Mycenaean culture and the port of al Mina on the north Syrian coast.

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A familiarity with the works of these other scholars whom he might have mirrored suggests more about his life, and thus his interpretation of the myths and faith of his day, than just drawing literary lines without grounding.

Hesiod draws a new approach to the Greek creation myth in Theogony, stressing the importance of Zeus as the monotheistic power over all the other gods. His poem of their inception, life, and demise at the hands of Zeus is the subject of much scholarly debate, with both audience and academics examining carefully the connection of Hesiod to other writers of his time and his place in history. All too frequently, though, his role as a singular man, a mortal individual, is overlooked for his life as an immortal writer, almost the godly brother of Eris he himself contends to be. Modern debate must focus more upon the life of the man in order to gain more from the text, an accurate interpretation and translation of the poem, and an appreciation for his place within his own work.

Brown, Norman O. Hesiod's Theogony: Translated with Introduction. New York: Liberal Arts Press, 1953.

Dornseiff, F. Philol, LXXXIX. Leipzig, Berlin: Teubner, 1934.

Dunbabin, T.J. The Greeks and Their Eastern Neighbors. London: University Press, 1957.

Walcot, P. "Biography of Hesiod." Classical Philology. Vol. 55, No. 1. (Jan., 1960.)

Brown, Norman O. Hesiod's Theogony: Translated with Introduction (New York: Liberal Arts Press, 1953), 53.

Walcot, P. "Biography of Hesiod." Classical Philology. Vol. 55, No. 1. (Jan., 1960.), 33.

Ibid, 22, 33, 34,….....

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