HE'SIOD, next to Homer the earliest Greek poet of whom w-e have any knowledge, was born probably in the 8th c. B.C., at Ascra, in Bceotia, whither his father had emi grated from tire /EOM Kvine, in .1 Mit Mitior. ITG seems to have been at first a peasant or herdsman in quite humble his and Days, he speaks of him.
self as citirates, " unhonored," ''noteless." Ile afterwards left A sera, and Went n. to Orchomenos, on lake Copais, where he dwelt during the remainder of his life, and where in later times his tomb was shown. This is reaily all we know about for the marvelous stories of the Neo-Platonists afford its no lutelligible clue to his per sonal history; and in the opinion of some critics, even throw grave doubts ou his historical reality altogether. This, however, is probably too extreme a view. But while it may not be necessary to reject the personality of Hesiod, it may still be allowed that he was a "representative man," the founder and heard of a scheol of poets—the Boeotian or Pierian—who stand in striking contrast with the older Ionic or Homeric school. Their original region was at the foot of Mt. Ilelicon, whence they spread over Beeotia, Phocis, and Eubcea. Their language and versification were nearly the same as those of the Homeric school, but in all respects they appear to have been different, and even antagonistic, ignoring the sanguinary struggles of the heroic age, and preferring to sing of rural quietude and peaceful pursuits, the simple sanctities of household life, the homely duties of thrift, the education of children, and the prosaic details of commerce and polities. Hence the Spartan, Cleomenes, scornfully termed Hesiod the "poet of helots," while Homer was the poet of warriors. In fine, it
be said that the poetry of the Hesiodic school indicates an advance in civilization, mor ality, and thought, on the Homeric school.—The works either written by or ascribed to Hesiod are seven in number, of which the following are the more important: 1. Elva kai Henzerai (" Works and Days"), in the time of Pausanias, the only one considered to be truly Hesiod's by the people about Mt. Helicon; 2. lhcogonia ("Generation of the Gods"), not considered genuine by Hesiod's countrymen, nor by most modern crit ics; 3. Boioi or Eeiai Megalai, called also Ratalogoi Ganaikon (" Catalogues of Women"). Of these the first two are entire; while the well-known _Avis Herakleos ("Shield of Hercules") is supposed by some to be a relic of the third. The Hesiodie poetry was, in ancient times, if not warmly admired, at least held in great veneration. Both the priest hood and the philosophers considered the Theogony a great, in fact, the greatest author ity, on the subjects of which it discourses, and almost all the great Alexandrine critics earnestly devoted themselves to its elucidation, but their commentaries have unhappily perished. Only here and there among the Scholia of tire later Neo-Platonists some of their remarks are preserved, The most complete collection of these is to be found in Gaisford's Poetw Grim*, .zifinores. The first edition of the Hesiodic poems appeared at Milan in 1493; subsequent editions arc those of Heinsius (Amsterdam, 1667), of Robin son (Oxford, 1737), of Loesner (Leips. 17S), Gaisford, GOttling (1831), Schumann (1869), Ko3hly (1870), and Flach (1874).