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Hesiod · c. 700 BC

Works and Days

Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι
Ancient Sources / Hesiod / Works and Days

The Works and Days, 828 lines of hexameter, is Hesiod's poem of advice to his brother Perses, who had taken more than his share of their inheritance and wasted it. Through the stories of Prometheus and Pandora and of the five ages of men, and through a farmer's calendar of ploughing, harvest, sailing and lucky and unlucky days, it argues that work and justice are the only honest way to live under Zeus.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 12 passages, about 8700 words in English.
Translator
Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914)
Edition
Hugh G. Evelyn-White (ed.), Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1914 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus)
Cite as
Hesiod, Works and Days 1 (by line number)

Contents · 12 passages

  1. 1–39Invocation to Zeus; the two Strifes (1-39)424 words
  2. 40–104Prometheus, fire and Pandora (40-104)669 words
  3. 105–199The five ages of men (105-199)993 words
  4. 200–269The hawk and the nightingale; justice in the city (200-269)758 words
  5. 270–364Justice, work and good neighbours (270-364)980 words
  6. 365–444Thrift, the Pleiades and equipping for the plough (365-444)864 words
  7. 445–534Ploughing, sowing and the approach of winter (445-534)964 words
  8. 535–604Winter clothing, spring pruning and the summer heat (535-604)678 words
  9. 605–674Vintage, laying up the ship and Hesiod's own voyage (605-674)720 words
  10. 675–704The sailing seasons and the choice of a wife (675-704)303 words
  11. 705–759Friends, speech and ritual rules (705-759)586 words
  12. 760–828Talk and the days of the month (760-828)722 words

More by Hesiod

English translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914). Original text: Hugh G. Evelyn-White (ed.), Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, Loeb Classical Library, London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1914 (Greek text as digitised by Perseus).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.