Theogony. Works and Days. Testimonia

This first of two volumes on Hesiod contains his poems Thegony and Works and Days, and testimonia illustrating ancient views of his life and work, all in Greek with facing pages of English translation. It also contains an introduction to the two volumes. The index to the two volumes is in the second volume, along with poems attributed to Hesiod in antiquity but that modern scholarship doubts he wrote. They are The Shield (of Heracles), the Catalogue of Women (or Ehoiai, and various other poems that survive mostly in fragments. Annotation ©2019 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
The two extant poems of Hesiod (eighth or seventh century BC) are Theogony, in which he charts the history of the divine world, and Works and Days, in which he delivers moral precepts and practical advice for the world of men.
Hesiod describes himself as a Boeotian shepherd who heard the Muses call upon him to sing about the gods. His exact dates are unknown, but he has often been considered a younger contemporary of Homer.The first volume of this revised Loeb Classical Library edition offers Hesiod’s two extant poems and a generous selection of testimonia regarding his life, works, and reception. In Theogony, Hesiod charts the history of the divine world, narrating the origin of the universe and the rise of the gods, from first beginnings to the triumph of Zeus, and reporting on the progeny of Zeus and of goddesses in union with mortal men. In Works and Days, Hesiod shifts his attention to humanity, delivering moral precepts and practical advice regarding agriculture, navigation, and many other matters; along the way he gives us the myths of Pandora and of the Golden, Silver, and other Races of Men.The second volume contains The Shield and extant fragments of other poems, including the Catalogue of Women, that were attributed to Hesiod in antiquity. The former provides a Hesiodic counterpoint to the shield of Achilles in the Iliad; the latter presents several legendary episodes organized according to the genealogy of their heroes’ mortal mothers. None of these is now thought to be by Hesiod himself, but all have considerable literary and historical interest.Glenn W. Most has thoroughly revised his edition to take account of the textual and interpretive scholarship that has appeared since its initial publication.