29 pages 58 minutes read

Hesiod

Works and Days

Fiction | Poem | Adult | BCE

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Symbols & Motifs

Duality

Duality is a recurring motif in “Works and Days.” It is introduced at the poem’s outset through Hesiod’s concept of Strife as doubly manifested, with both productive and destructive aspects. Hesiod’s characterization of woman as both pleasure and punishment is another manifestation of the motif, as is his insistence that despite the fifth tribe of men’s many “harsh troubles,” they will still “have good mixed with ill” (42). In addition, Hesiod’s concept of Hope as humanity’s consolation in the face of their many “grim cares” (39) demonstrates the coexistence of negative and positive aspects.

Eaters of Corn

Hesiod describes the third tribe of men, the bronze men, as “a terrible and fierce race” preoccupied with violence and war, and “no eaters of corn” (41). Corn here functions as a symbol for agriculture, which in Hesiod’s time was associated with civilization. That the bronze men are “no eaters of corn” further illustrates their ferocity and destructive tendencies. Their time is spent making war rather than engaging and labor through the building of agricultural communities.

Mallow and Asphodel

Hesiod describes the judges who accept bribes to make unjust rulings as “infants” who “do not know how much more the half is than the whole, nor how much good there is in mallow and asphodel” (38).

Related Titles

By Hesiod