He was a poor farmer and lost his father’s estate when his brother bribed the judges to favor him. He continued his life with dignity, working hard every day. One day he decided to encourage his little brother to change his mind by writing an entire book, which he called “Works and Days”.
He is Hesiod, the poet who, according to an ancient and for the ancients still classical account, competed with and defeated Homer in a poetry contest in Chalkis. Pausanias describes the tripod that the poet won in this contest and which in his time (2nd century AD) was still in the sacred grove of the Muses on Helicon, where Hesiod composed his work.
This fight may have been a real event, but it is unlikely that Homer took part, since the two poets probably did not live at the same time. Only Herodotus considers him a contemporary of Homer (around 850 BC). The other ancient writers agree that Hesiod is a later date than Homer, and modern researchers have concluded that Hesiod lived in the late 8th or early 7th century BC.
Hesiod was a farmer and lived in Askra, a rural area near Thespiae in Boeotia. His father was a merchant from Kyme, an Aeolian colony on the coast of Asia Minor, and he settled in Boeotia in search of better fortune. When he died, Hesiod became involved in legal battles with his brother, Persis, who managed to get a larger share of his father’s estate by bribing the judges. However, he lost his fortune and returned to seize what was left of his brother, using the same dishonest methods.
Unlike the father in the biblical parable, who welcomes the prodigal son with joy, Hesiod is not willing to give his frivolous and dishonest brother his fortune. On the contrary, he tries to admonish him and urges him to advance through hard and fair work.
With this intention, he wrote the didactic epic “Works and Days”, which, together with “Theogony” and “The Aspis Heracles”, constitute the three works of Hesiod that have come down to us in their entirety, although the authenticity of the latter is disputed. Here we will take a look at the former.
It may have been 27 centuries since then, but the issues that concern us remain almost the same. Perhaps that is why many of the ancient poet’s advice have survived to this day in Greek proverbs.
Regarding the value of work, Hesiod writes to his brother:
“… but I will not give you anything else or lend you anything. Work, foolish Persian, the jobs that the gods have assigned to men, lest one day you find yourself with a wife and children begging from your neighbors and they will not pay you any attention.”
“… he who postpones work struggles with losses”
“Hunger is always the companion of the lazy”
“No work is a shame, laziness is a shame (ἔργον δ’ οὐδὲν ὄνιδος, ἀεργίῃ δὲ τ’ὄνιδος)”
Today we say: And if the idler is hungry, he has no mental anguish / Let work sit at the door and chase poverty / Work in your youth so that you have it in your old age.
Noble competition and social peace
The other lesson that the Persian must learn is the value of good relations with neighbors and creative competition. First of all, he must learn to distinguish between the two Quarrels.
The first is envy, which never comes to good. It makes you lazy, grumpy and destructive “… and asking for quarrels to sit and listen in the market. For quarrels and the market care little for the one who does not have the means to produce the year, what the earth gives, the seed of Demeter. When you have had enough of that, then go and claim the property of the other by quarreling”.
The other, however, is creative Eris and springs from admiration for the achievements of the neighbor. “… she also wakes up the useless one for work. For someone longs to work, when he sees the rich one who plows and plants and arranges his household. And the neighbor envies the neighbor who is in a hurry to get rich. This is a good Eris for people. And the potter quarrels with the potter and the mason with the mason (κεραμευς κεραμεῖ κοτει και τέκτον τέκτον)…”
This healthy competition and the lack of envy also favors smooth relations with the neighbors, which ensure peaceful coexistence. Because if something unusual happens in your place,
“the neighbors will run away unharmed and the relatives girded (γειτονες ἄζοστοι ἔκιον, ζώσαντο δὲ πηι)”. The expression has survived as a proverb to this day: “The neighbor runs away empty-handed, and the relative is girded.”
Therefore,
“Measure well what you take from your neighbor and return it with more… to the generous one, others give, to the stingy one, no one gives… and he who gives of his own free will, even if he gives much, rejoices in his soul. But he who shamelessly grabs, even if he takes little, his heart freezes.”
The older ones will remember that until a few years ago, when a housewife borrowed something from her neighbor, she would return it in excess, overflowing the glass or plate to the brim.
Economy
Even if you acquire wealth, you should not neglect proper management before disaster strikes you.
“Be satisfied when the jar begins and when it ends. Hold on to the middle. It’s a bad idea to be economical at the bottom.”
“Because if you put a little on top of a little and do it often, it will quickly become a lot” or as we say today “Beans fill the bag with beans”.
Justice and Corruption
“… (Zeus) gave this law to men: while animals, fish and birds eat each other, because there is no justice in them, he gave justice to men, which is excellent”
“Villainy can be approached easily and easily. For it is close at hand and the path to it is smooth. But in front of virtue the immortal gods sweated and the path that leads to it is rough at first, long and uphill. But when you reach the top, then it is easily approached, even though it was difficult at first.”
Seven centuries later, Jesus would repeat this message: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many are the ones going in through it. Because narrow is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and few are the ones finding it” (Matt. 7:13)
“Do not gain by wicked means. Evil gains are losses.”
“Beware of these, rulers, and judge righteously, you who love bribes, and abandon perverse decisions. He who plans evil for another does worse to himself (…κακή βυλὴ τῷ βυλευσαντι κακιστή)”
Or, “whoever digs another’s pit will fall into it himself.”
The last passage emphasizes the futility of injustice. Today we say “unjustice is not blessed” and “wind-gatherings, devilish scatterings”.
Hesiod explains that when injustice and greed become gigantic, then “to the immortals they will go, abandoning men Hades and Nemesis. And bitter calamities will remain with men and nothing will save them from evil anymore”.
Timeless values
Hard work, solidarity with neighbors, justice and honesty, have not lost their value over the centuries. Can you think of a better system of values that will ensure you a decent life and freedom?
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