Works and Days
Works and Days (Ancient Greek: Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, romanized: Érga kaì Hēmérai) is a didactic poem written by ancient Greek poet Hesiod around 700 BC. It is in dactylic hexameter and contains 828 lines. At its center, the Works and Days is a farmer's almanac in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses in the agricultural arts.
| Works and Days | |
|---|---|
| by Hesiod | |
An image from a 1539 printing of Works and Days | |
| Original title | Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι |
| Country | Aeolis |
| Language | Ancient Greek |
| Subject(s) | Story of Prometheus and Pandora, and the so-called Myth of Five Ages |
| Genre(s) | Didactic poem |
| Meter | dactylic hexameter |
| Publication date | 700 BC |
| Lines | 828 |
| Full text | |
| Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns and Homerica/Works and Days at Wikisource | |
Scholars have seen this work against a background of agrarian crisis in mainland Greece, which inspired a wave of colonial expeditions in search of new land. In the poem, Hesiod also offers his brother extensive moralizing advice on how he should live his life. Works and Days is perhaps best known for its two mythological aetiologies for the toil and pain that define the human condition - the story of Prometheus and Pandora, and the so-called Myth of Five Ages.