Customer Reviews

Works and Days and Theogony

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At first I found the voice Lombardo uses for "Works and Days" a little off-putting. I mean, you don't expect an ancient Greek poet to come off like one of Huck Finn's more literate relatives. But as I continued reading, and, indeed, I had a hard time stopping, I was convinced this really was Hesiod's voice, at least for this group of poems and proverbs. He's a rustic, cranky know-it-all who's also quite entertaining. "Theogony" is more formal and stately, but as with Lomboardo's recent "Iliad" and "Odyssey", compulsively readable. In this volume, Hesiod is more pleasurable to read than I had imagined possible. Bravo!

Hesiod's Theogony was the best known poem in antiquity and the single greatest summary of the Greek gods and the theological tradition of Archaic Greece (800-480 B.C.) Its origins are based in oral tradition and the poem itself is structured in run-composition with framed episodes that use repetitious formulas. Due to its structure, the narrative can shift suddenly from one topic to another, thus leading to inconsistencies in the gods' parentage. The Theogony is a succession myth that explains how generations of patriarchal gods overthrow each other until one god consolidates power. Therefore, the story has a linear progression, but it also has a cyclical element since each generation represents a reincarnation of previous generations that all try to keep their children secluded from power. Four main themes in the Theogony include: the concern for the displacement of elders, the frustration of gender politics, the folktale element of moral messages, and the concern of sexual excess demonstrated by the gods.

Hesiod also wrote Works and Days which was a poem to his brother who had squandered his share of their father's inheritance. Throughout the poem, Hesiod outlines practical guidelines for basic living. He also gives examples of Greek cosmogony such as the Ages of Man that is not found elsewhere in Greek literary sources. Scholars have described Hesiod's worldview as apocalyptic and pessimistic, but Hesiod's stern dealings with his brother occasionally give way to a more lighthearted tone which Lombardo emphasizes in modern prose.

Both translations are enlightening reads and Lombardo gives extensive, useful notes, and Robert Lamberton provides an excellent introduction that outlines Hesiod's life and his poems.

I must have compared a number of different Hesiod translation before finding Stanley Lombardo's!

At once I felt at peace with my searching struggle and was extremely happy with his version!

He has presented the "Theogony" and "Works & Days" in a way that makes for easy and pleasurable reading, with a realistic power and a believability in Hesiod himself.

Not only that but he has taken the time to seperated each text into paragraphs and sections, and has given each section a title for quick reference and artistic aesthetic!

I love this beautiful edition!

A beautiful and witty translation of Hesiod, including both of the best-known pieces we have from him. The Works and Days is what it always is: argumentative and with some kind of ancient agenda whose exact nature is the subject of many a PhD thesis. The Theogony, though, is much more clearly a poem, and the translator here has made it readable, lyrical, and expressed in language that's always impressive and here and there, very funny. Strongly recommended.