The Poems of Hesiod

HesiodProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.3

Word count: 124K words
Chapters: 13

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Hesiodi Carmina by HesiodAuthor: Hesiod,Language: Latin, Class: PA: Language and Literatures: Classical Languages and Literature, Release Date: Oct 18, 2016

Editor's review

This edition of Hesiodi Carmina presents the poetry of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod in Latin, and is a public-domain ebook in the classics and classical literature category. Its value lies not in a modern introduction or a facing translation, but in presenting Hesiod's works in Latin for readers familiar with the classical languages or engaged in Western classical scholarship to encounter the text directly. As a Project Gutenberg electronic publication, it is easy to search, copy, and carry, and can be used for close reading in class, edition comparison, or Latin reading practice. Reading it requires some background in ancient Greek and Roman literature and a foundation in Latin; otherwise it is easy to remain at the literal level and miss the significance of its mythological genealogies and agricultural precepts. For general readers, it is more a primary source for reference than an easy introductory read.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Classics students with a foundation in Latin who need to read Hesiod's text directly
Literature specialists studying ancient Greek mythological genealogies and agricultural poetry
Instructors who need a public-domain electronic text for close reading or edition comparison in class

Not a good fit for

General readers with no Latin who hope to read a Chinese translation
Beginners expecting modern annotations, introductions, or detailed background information
Casual readers who only want a summary of Hesiod's stories

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the overall structure, then work through difficult words and passages with a dictionary.
Read alongside a reference work on ancient Greek mythological genealogies to clarify the relationships among gods' names and lineages.
It can be used in comparison with other translations, but a translation should not replace close reading of the original.
For classroom use, selected passages on agricultural precepts can be used for close reading and discussion.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a Chinese translation?

No. The book is a Latin text, a public-domain ebook in the classics and classical literature category. The main text is not a Chinese translation, and it has no modern Chinese introduction or annotations; it is intended for readers who can read Latin directly.

Can I read it without any Latin?

The threshold is relatively high. With no Latin at all, reading the original directly would be very difficult; it is advisable to start with an annotated translation or a bilingual edition, then return to the original for close reading and comparison.

Is this book suitable for research?

It can serve as a public-domain primary text for close reading, edition comparison, and classroom discussion, but it provides no modern scholarly annotations or research introduction; readers doing in-depth research will still need to use professional commentaries and reference works.

Comments

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About the author

Hesiod Author · Greek (ancient)

Hesiod was an ancient Greek poet, conventionally named alongside Homer as a major representative of the early Greek poetic tradition. Publicly available information about his life is limited: neither his dates nor the details of his career are known, and the biographical traditions that circulated in later antiquity are largely legendary and cannot be treated as reliable history. The works transmitted under his name are chiefly the Theogony and Works and Days. The Theogony gives a systematic account of the genealogies of the gods and the origins of the cosmos, supplying Greek myth with a genealogical framework; Works and Days turns to farming, labor, and everyday ethics, offering advice and maxims in a plain, didactic style. Other works attributed to him include the Shield of Heracles. Writing mainly in hexameter verse, he attends to divine order and human livelihood, and has had a lasting influence on later Greek mythography, poetic tradition, and agricultural literature.