Theogony and Works and Days (Oxford World's Classics)

The two pieces contained in this book are short but they feature a lot of fascinating information about the gods of Ancient Greece and, in fact, contain much of what we know about their origins.

Less, yet also greatly recognized for a succinctness near to the thankfully greater surviving work by Roman writer Cicero, as a contrast to how tenuous one can feel about what we have in writing from the ancient world, and for an even better focus on ancient plethoras of the divine, we have Hesiod. Here, too, let me make a suggestion for a quick close, one that has an inherant contrast in itself since we get a lot of classic world divinity in what philologists unearth, Amazon should be able to get you both the pastoral and erotic works of Ovid and the many-faceted works of Aurelius, Maurius, Claudius, Julius Caesar, Aquinnas, Constantine, Augustine, and for more Greek writers, aside from the little we've had of say Aeschylus and Euripides -- and I mentioned Sophocles and Plato in other reviews -- more works only mentioned in related records about them is carefully and painstakingly being found, I have been appraised of. Why tenuous in how I feel, thus satisfied by these surviving artifacts? I was also recently told that from narratives to buildings, and anything else, we have only a shaky ten to maybe fifteen percent of the Greco-Roman world that the ravages of time and man's destructiveness throughout history has left us; a lot of it very touchy to handle, and how much longer will the originals be with us, one can only wonder... -- Tom Lee...

Five stars for packaging. The book was neatly packed between 2 rigid cardboard sheets, so the book won't bend or move around. And a great-looking book.

The Theogony and Works and Days contain the Greek understandings of divinity and human history at about the time they first learned to write. Unsurprisingly, the stories appear strange and even bizarre to the modern reader. The writing itself is difficult to follow with frequent tangents, etymologies, stories and practical advice all somehow in the same text. Given that there are modern retellings of the same myths that are much easier to read, and probably more pleasurable, is there any reason to read these tales in an archaic form? I would argue yes, if one is truly interested in understanding human origins. When Plato or Xenophanes criticize the poets for slandering the gods, they are referring to Hesiod and Homer. If one chooses to read modern retellings of the myths, they typically come across as so many entertaining stories. In Hesiod, however, one can see the myths as first efforts at understanding the human predicament. One can then see the foil for the Athenian movement away from archaic mythologies and toward democracy and reason. The Socratic/Platonic effort to reform education and society becomes then so much more vivid. (Though Plato himself had a complex and not easily understood relationship with myth.) In other words, it is difficult to understand Greek civilization without the somewhat painful reading of an archaic text like Hesiod. Only by immersing oneself in the labyrinthine divine and human genealogies of Hesiod can one truly appreciate the rational/democratic Athenian revolution. Not pleasure reading but time well spent nonetheless.

Received in great condition. It's a wonderfully fun book and a perfect introduction to Greek mythology for anyone interested in learning about the earliest concepts of the ancient gods and heroes. Paired with "Mythology" by Edith Hamilton and perhaps Homer's works as well, it will put you on the right path.

Thank you for your fast service. It was greatly appreciated

Wife wanted book so purchased it. She is satisfied and happy. It was as expected to be. My wife loves to study the bible and anything related to it even if it is not a part of the biblical text. She has used this in her bible study group and has found it even more interesting than she expected.

The translation is serviceable but not in the least artistic. To me, it was an underwhelming read when compared to it's sourced excerpts in other texts like Republic. Much less poetic. There's an instance in Book 2 p. 40 of Plato's Republic (Grube/Reeve trans.) where Glaucon references Works and Days to Socrates, "Vice in abundance is easy to get; The road is smooth and begins beside you, But the gods have put sweat between us and virtue." Whereas ML West's translation renders it, "Inferiority can be got in droves, easily: the road is smooth, and she lives very near. But in front of Superiority the immortal gods set sweat; it is a long and steep path to her, rough at first. But when one reaches the top, then it is easy, for all the difficulty." West's translation is overwrought in the same way for much of Works and Days. I don't have another translation on hand to compare it to outside of excerpts from other books to recommend a better translation. For Theogony, I read it immediately after finishing the Odyssey and Iliad back to back. Even then it's an extremely dense and slow read. I hope another translation I find wields it better.

Worth the read at any moment of your life. This specific edition is incredibly frail, though. Mine already came with a small torn on the cover.

Martin L. West's translation of these two works by Hesiod is worth having in one's collection. In his brief introduction, he also discusses possible Middle-Eastern influences on Greek mythology (which is covered in greater detail in his The East Face of Helicon).

Purchased for a course and it was worth it.

Usually I love Oxford classics, but West translation of Hesiod, I don't like. For what purpose would one translate the names of the gods? Like Uranus being Heaven and Gaia Earth? If you don't know what you read (I mean if you are not familiar with the myth), you might get confused. For me it is the first time when I encounter something like this. Luckily, I have other translations as well.

Incredible insights into the religious and moral life of the ancient Greeks. Translation is very accessible. Book quality is good.