Works and Days

“She rouses even the shiftless one to work. For when someone whose work falls short looks to another, towards a rich man who hasten to plough and plant and manage his household well, then neighbour vies with neighbour as he hastens to wealth: this Strife is good for mortals.” 

The “she” in this passage is Strife, specifically the positive manifestation of strife, who Hesiod conceives of as a goddess. The benefit of this form of strife lies in its ability to provoke productive competition among men. Seeing neighbors and friends achieve inspires men to work hard and succeed, thus fulfilling Zeus’s will for men.

“The infants, they do not know how much more the half is than the whole, nor how much good there is in mallow and asphodel.” 

The infants are the judges who Perses bribes to grant him more than his fair share of the family inheritance. Mallow and asphodel were the cheapest food items available. Hesiod is criticizing judges for their corrupt verdict by referring to an ancient proverb that it is better to be honorably poor than to achieve wealth through dishonorable means.

“Son of Iapetos, clever above all others, you are pleased at having stolen fire and outwitted me—a great calamity both for yourself and for men to come. To set against the fire I shall give them an affliction in which they will all delight as they embrace their own misfortune.”

“Son of Iapetos” is an epithet that describes Prometheus. Here, Zeus chides him for believing he could outwit the king of the gods. In addition to reaffirming Zeus’s primacy over gods and men, this passage provides an example of duality. Delight and misfortune can walk hand in hand, as can punishment and meaning later in the poem.  

“Out of ash-trees he made them, a terrible and fierce race, occupied with the woeful works of Ares and with acts of violence, no eaters of corn, their stern hearts being of adamant; unshaven hulks, with great strength and indescribable arms growing from their shoulders above their stalwart bodies.” 

Ares was the god of uncontrollable war and believed to provoke bloodlust. This contrasts with Athena, the goddess of strategic warfare. Hesiod describes the Bronze “race”—equivalent to what contemporary readers would recognize as a tribe—as “no eaters of corn,” meaning they did not engage in agriculture, which in ancient Greece was associated with civilization.

“For now it is a race of iron; and they will never cease from toil and misery by day or night, in constant distress, and the gods will give them harsh troubles. Nevertheless, even they shall have good mixed with ill.” 

Hesiod laments belonging to this troubled tribe that he believes is doomed to be destroyed by Zeus. In a long, detailed paragraph, Hesiod expounds on his tribe’s many flaws and the ills they will suffer as a result of them. Yet this misanthropic view is tempered by his insistence that “even they,” who are so wicked, “shall have good mixed with ill” (42). This alludes to the persistence of Hope, contained in Pandora’s jar and never entirely abandoning humanity.

“You are in the power of one much superior, and you will go whichever way I take you, singer though you are. I will make you my dinner if I like, or let you go. He is a fool who seeks to compete against the stronger: he both loses the struggle and suffers injury on top of insult.” 

Here, the hawk admonishes the nightingale for weeping at her plight. As the weaker party, she must accept that, despite her gift of song, she is at the hawk’s mercy. Hesiod tells this fable to contrast relations among animals with relations among humans. Violence is acceptable in the natural world but is unworthy of civilization. Hesiod urges Perses to pursue righteousness by shunning violence and bribery. 

“The road on the other side gives better passage, to righteousness: Right gets the upper hand over violence in the end. The fool learns only by experience.” 

Expounding on the importance of choosing the right path, Hesiod concludes with one of his numerous aphorisms.“The fool learns only by experience” (43)is particularly significant here because Hesiod repeatedly instructs Perses to heed his brother’s advice and pursue a righteous path. A wise man knows when he is being given good advice and takes it while a fool ignores it but still learns the lesson through painful experience.

“A man fashions ill for himself who fashions ill for another, and the ill design is most ill for the designer.”

Another example of an aphorism, this one emphasizes a crucial point Hesiod returns to throughout the poem regarding appropriate relations among humans. A man who plots against another, whether through violence or theft, harms himself most of all because he incurs the wrath of Zeus. Hesiod’s comprehensive advice is meant to save Perses and the bribe-taking judges (as well as the poem’s audience) from straying from the righteous path decreed by Zeus, which (as the god himself informed Prometheus) leads to calamity.

“For this was the rule for men that Kronos’ son laid down: whereas fish and beasts and flying birds would eat one another, because Right is not among them, to men he gave Right, which is much the best practice.”

Hesiod again contrasts relations among animals with relations among men. His phrase “to men he gave Right” presents righteousness as a gift Zeus bestowed to mortals to improve their lives. Hesiod repeatedly emphasizes this point, drawing the gods, mortals, and nature into relationship. Gods are immortal and powerful. Humans can achieve civilization, and animals exist in power relationships irrespective of justice.

“There to the funeral games for warlike Amphidamas and to Chalcis I crossed, and many were the prizes announced and displayed by the sons of that valiant; where I may say that I was victorious in poetry and won a tripod with handles. That I dedicated to the Muses of Helicon […].”

In this section, Hesiod points out that he is a prize-winning poet. He has been dispensing advice on seafaring despite his only experience being that he crossed a narrow channel to participate in a poetry competition. Hesiod notes that he dedicated his prize to the Muses who enabled his victory, demonstrating his respect for the goddesses, thus his correct behavior and credibility as an advice-giver. 

“There is another time for men to sail in the spring. As soon as the size of the crow’s footprint is matched by the aspect of the leaves on the end of the fig-branch, then the sea is suitable for embarcation.”

In addition to farming and seafaring, Hesiod provides guidance on reading nature’s signals, an early form of time-keeping. This demonstrates the importance of being attuned to the natural world and capable of interpreting its meanings as they apply to human endeavors. Humans, gods, and the natural world exist in a relationship, and success involves interpreting that relationship correctly. 

“Do as I say; and try to avoid being the object of men’s evil rumour. Rumour is a dangerous thing, light and easy to pick up, but hard to support and difficult to get rid of. No rumour ever dies that many folk rumour. She too is somehow a goddess.” 

Hesiod’s characterization of rumors mirrors his characterization of Right and Oath earlier in the poem. The easy way (to pass on rumors, to stray from righteousness) may seem appealing but leads to calamity in the end. As with Right and Oath, Rumor “too is somehow a goddess” (59), reflecting the notion that gods and goddesses are, among other things, personified aspects of the human condition, both positive and negative.

“Pay due attention to the days which come from Zeus, and indicate them to your labourers—the 30th being the best day of the month to oversee work and distribute rations, when people judge right in celebrating it.” 

Here, Hesiod introduces lucky and unlucky days of the year as they pertain to everything from being born, to marrying, to taming sheep, oxen, and dogs. As the king of the gods, Zeus determines which days are lucky and unlucky and thus which events should be celebrated when they occur on the given day. Hesiod also instructs Perses to convey these dates to his laborers, which suggests Perses’s status as a landholder.