Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Shield FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Hesiod belongs to the transitional period in Greek civilization during which a literary culture sustained through oral tradition was transformed by the emergence of a written alphabet. His two major surviving works, the Theogony and the Works and Days, present a broad view of the divine and the mundane, respectively. The Theogony traces the origins of the Greek gods and recounts the events surrounding the crowning of Zeus as their king. A manual of moral instruction in verse, the Works and Days was addressed to farmers and peasants." Introducing his celebrated translations of these two poems and of the Shield, a closely related poem of now-disputed authorship, Apostolos N. Athanassakis positions Hesiod simultaneously as a philosopher-poet, a bard with deep roots in the culture of his native Boeotia, and the heir to a long tradition of Hellenic poetry. For this revised edition, Athanassakis has provided an expanded introduction on Hesiod and his work, made careful corrections and amendments to his faithful translations, significantly augmented the notes and index, and updated the bibliography. Already a classic, Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Shield is now more valuable than ever for students of Greek mythology and literature.
SYNOPSIS
Translator Athanassakis (Hellenic studies, U. of California-Santa Barbara) works from the 1970 Solmsen versions of the Theogony and the Works and Days line for line to ensure their accuracy. In the case of the Shield, (which is now disputed as to authorship), he has made a slightly freer translation to accommodate its structure and tempo. He provides very useful charts on the primeval origins and genealogy of the gods, a map, and extensive commentary. This new edition includes an expanded introduction on Hesiod and his work, amendments to translations, and an updated bibliography. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
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