A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

440 HESIODUS. HESIODUS.
mean to assert that the elements of the Hesiodic life of Hesiod, especially those written by Plutarch
poetry are of a later date than the age of Homer, and Cleomenes, for they would undoubtedly have
for they may, on the contrary, be as ancient as the enlightened us upon many points respecting which
Greek nation itself. But we must, at any rate, we are now completely in the dark. We, must,
infer that the Hesiodic poetry, such as it has come however, observe that many of the stories related
down to us, is of later growth than the Homeric; about Hesiod refer to his whole school of poetry
an opinion which is confirmed also by the language (but not to the poet personally), and arose from the
and expressions of the two schools, and by a relation in which the Boeotian or Hesiodic school
variety of collateral circumstances, among which stood to the Homeric or Ionic school. In this light
we may mention the range of knowledge being we consider, e. g. the traditions that Stesichorus was
much more extensive in the poems which bear the a son of Hesiod, and that Hesiod had a poetical
name of Hesiod than in those attributed to Homer. contest with Homer, which is said to have taken
Herodotus (ii. 53) and others regarded Homer and place at Chalcis during the funeral solemnities of
Hesiod as contemporaries, and some even assigned king Amphidamas, or, according to others, at Aulis
to him an earlier date than Homer (Gell. iii. 11, or Delos. (Proclus, 1. c. p. xliii. and ad Op. et Dies,
xvii. 21; Suid. s.v.'Hao-os; Tzetz. Chlil. xii. 163, 648; Plut. Conv. Sept. Sap. 10.) The story of
198, xiii. 650); but the general opinion of the this contest gave rise to a composition still extant
ancients was that Homer was the elder of the two, under the title of'A-yov'Olvpov cal'Hoibov, the
a belief which was entertained by Philochorus, work of a grammarian who lived towards the end
Xenophanes, Eratosthenes, Apollodorus, and many of the first century of our era, in which the two
others. poets are represented as engaged in the contest and
If we inquire after the exact age of Hesiod, we answering each other in their verses. The work is
are informed by Herodotus (I. c.) that he lived four printed in Giittling's edition of Hesiod, p. 242hundred years before his time, that is, about B. c. 254, and in Westermann's Vitarumn Scriptores
850. Velleius Paterculus (i. 7) considers that be- Graeci, p. 33, &c. Its author knows the whole
tween Homer and Hesiod there was an interval of family history of Hesiod, the names of his father
a hundred and twenty years, and most modern and mother, as well as of his ancestors, anid traces
critics assume that Hesiod lived about a century his descent to Orpheus, Linus, and Apollo himself.
later than Homer, which is pretty much in accord- These legends, though they are mere fictions, show
ance with the statement of some ancient writers the connection which the ancients conceived to
who place him about the eleventh Olympiad, i. e. exist between the poetry of Hesiod (especially the
about B. C. 735. Respecting the life of the poet we Theogony) and the ancient schools of priests and
derive some information from one of the poems as- bards, which had their seats in Thrace and Pieria,
cribed to him, viz. the'Epya Kael r'epai. We learn and thence spread into Boeotia, where they profrom that poem (648, &c.), that he was born in bably formed the elements out of which the Hethe village of Ascra in Boeotia, whither his father siodic poetry was developed. Some of the fables
had emigrated from the Aeolian Cuma in Asia pretending to be the personal history of Hesiod are
Minor. Ephorus (Fraym. p. 268, ed. Marx) and of such a nature as to throw considerable doubt Upon
Suidas state that both Homer and Hesiod were the personal existence of the poet altogether; and
natives of Cuma, and even represent them as athough we do not deny that there may have been
kinsmen,-a statement which probably arose from in the Boeotian school a poet of the name of
the belief that Hesiod was born before his father's Hesiod whose eminence caused him to be'regarded
emigration to Ascra; but if this were true, Hesiod as the representative, and a number of works to be
could not have said that he never crossed the sea, attributed to him, still we would, in speaking of
except from Aulis to Euboea. (Op. et Dies, 648.) Hesiod, be rather understood to mean the whole
Ascra, moreover, is mentioned as his birthplace school than any particular individual. Thus an
in the epitaph on Hesiod (Paus. ix. 38. ~ 9), ancient epigram mentions that Hesiod was twice
and by Proclus in his life of Hesiod. The a youth and was twice buried (Proclus; Suidas
poet describes himself (Theog. 23) as tending a Proverb. Vat. iv. 3); and there was a tradition
flock on the side of Mount Helicon, and from that, by the command of an oracle, the bones of
this, as well as from the fact of his calling himself Hesiod were removed from Naupactus to Orchoan d'irLAzTOSe (Op. et Dies, 636), we must infer menos, for the purpose of averting an epidemic.
that he belonged to a humble station, and was (Paus. ix. 38. ~ 3.) These traditions show that
engaged in rural pursuits. But subsequently his Hesiod was looked upon and worshipped in
circumstances seem to have been bettered, and Boeotia (and also in Phocis) as an ancient hero,
after the death of his father, he was involved in a and, like many other heroes, he was said to have
dispute with his brother Perses about his small been unjustly killed in the grove of the Nemean
patrimony, which.was decided in favour of Perses. Zeus. (Plut. Conviv. Sept. Sap. 19; Certamen
(Op. et Dies, 219, 261, 637.) He then seems to Hornm. et IHes. p. 251, ed. G6ttling; comp. Paus.
have emigrated to Orchomenos, where he spent the ix. 31. ~ 3.) All that we can say, under these
remainder of his life. (Pind. ap. Proclum,?yevos circumstances, is that a poet or hero of the name of'HaodLov, p. xliv. in Gtittling's edit. of Hesiod.) Hesiod was regarded by the ancients as the head
At Orchomenos he is also said to have been buried, and representative of that school of poetry which
and his tomb was shown there in later times. This was based on the Thracian or Pierian bards, and
is all that can be said, with any'degree of certainty, was developed in Boeotia as distinct from the Hoabout the life of Hesiod. Proclus, Tzetzes, and meric or Ionic school.
others relate a variety of anecdotes and marvellous The differences between the two schools of poetry
tales about his life and death, but very little value are plain and obvious, and were recognised in
can be attached to them, though they may have ancient times no less than at present, as may be
been derived from comparatively early sources. We seen from the'A'ycv'Opt~pov cal'HaLdo'ov (p. 248,
have to lament the loss of some ancient works on the ed. Giittling), In their. mode of delivery the poets