Hesiod

Hesiod was an ancient Greek poet and mythmaker believed to have been active between 750 and 650 BCE, roughly the same era as Homer. Often hailed as the “father of Greek didactic poetry,” Hesiod is credited by Western scholars as the first written poet to actively engage with his subject matter. Two of Hesiod’s complete epics have endured: Theogony, which delves into allegorical myths of the gods, and Works and Days, portraying peasant life and featuring fables, allegories, and personal anecdotes, serving as a sort of Boeotian shepherd’s calendar. His major works reflect his views on justice, the work ethic, and fairness towards others. Hesiod employed epithets to underscore the specific roles of gods, such as “Mighty Zeus” to emphasize Zeus’s dominion over Olympus, and “King of the Underworld” to denote Hades. Additional works attributed to Hesiod include Shield of Hercules, Catalogue of Women, Precepts of Chiron, Melampodia, and An Astronomy.