Hesiod

Hesiod probably lived in the late 8th or early 7th century BC, during a period of profound change in the Greek world. The earlier Mycenaean societies had collapsed centuries before, and Greek communities were now entering a new era in which the city-states were becoming more firmly established, trade and seafaring were expanding, and the use of the Greek alphabet was spreading.

Society remained largely agricultural. Land, labour, the seasons, family life and the differences between rich and poor shaped everyday existence. This reality is strongly reflected in Works and Days, where Hesiod writes about the hard work of the farmer, justice, social inequality and the need for a life based on moderation, discipline and effort.

At the same time, Greek religious tradition was taking a more organized form. In the Theogony, Hesiod gathered and systematized older myths concerning the origins of the world, the gods and the successive generations of divine powers. His work played a decisive role in shaping a shared understanding of the Greek pantheon.

Unlike the heroic world of Homer, Hesiod presents more directly the world of the ordinary person, the farmer and the daily struggle for survival. His works therefore provide invaluable evidence for the social, economic and religious ideas of early Archaic Greece.