10 h 21 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 10 h 21 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What connects the birth of the gods with the right time to sow a field?
Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica brings together early Greek poetry about gods, work and justice. In the Theogony, Hesiod tells how the gods come into being. In Works and Days, he addresses his brother Perses over a disputed inheritance, bringing questions of fairness close to the soil and the farming year.
The Homeric Hymns praise the gods through story, while the Homerica preserves fragments and summaries of epics about Troy and Thebes. Rather than one continuous plot, you find songs, catalogues and surviving pieces. Together, they offer roots of the stories that later Greek poets, playwrights and philosophers draw upon.
What you’ll discover
- Gods and their beginnings Enter the Theogony’s world of divine origins, where Rhea hides the infant Zeus from Cronus.
- Justice close to home Follow Hesiod’s appeal to Perses, where a family inheritance raises questions about fairness and work.
- A farmer’s watchful year Discover advice on plowing, sowing and reaping, with the stars marking the time for each task.
- Praise shaped into stories Explore the Homeric Hymns, songs to gods once sung before longer recitals.
- Beyond the familiar epics Find fragments and summaries that extend the stories of Troy, Thebes and their heroes’ homecomings.
Who will love it
Readers who love myth, the birth of the gods, and the plain voice of an ancient farmer will feel at home here. It suits anyone drawn to Greek stories, hymns, tales of Troy, or poems about work and justice.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The Muses give a shepherd his song
- Prometheus, Pandora, and five ages explain toil
- Justice and steady work build homes and cities
- The Theogony traces the gods back to Chaos
- Zeus wins the throne by cunning and force
- Lost catalogues and a shield widen Hesiod's world
- The Hymns to Demeter and Apollo tell how gods win honor
- Hermes, Aphrodite, Dionysus, and many small hymns
- The Trojan Cycle fills in the story around Homer
- Frogs, epigrams, and a contest between two poets
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Esiodo, gli Inni omerici e l’Omerica
by Esiodo
A newborn god invents the lyre, steals Apollo's cows, and tells Apollo he knows cows only by hearsay.
Medium level10–20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
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In short
Imagine a baby who is born at dawn, plays a lyre at midday, and steals fifty cows by evening. That is Hermes in one of the Homeric Hymns, and he is only one of many surprises on this shelf of early Greek poetry.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
The Muses give a shepherd his song
Hesiod opens the Theogony by telling how he becomes a poet. While he herds lambs below Mount Helicon, the Muses call shepherds mere bellies. They hand him a laurel branch and breathe a divine voice into him. From then on he sings of what is, what will be, and what came before.
The Muses are daughters of Zeus and Memory. They say they can tell lies that sound like truth, and speak truth when they wish. Hesiod claims no power of his own.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 6 h 40 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hesiod. Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/hesiod-the-homeric-hymns-and-homerica.
Hesiod. (2026). Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/hesiod-the-homeric-hymns-and-homerica
Hesiod. Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/hesiod-the-homeric-hymns-and-homerica.
@book{hesiod2026hesiod,
author = {Hesiod},
title = {Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/hesiod-the-homeric-hymns-and-homerica}
}
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What is Hesiod's Theogony about?
The Theogony tells how the Greek gods came to be. It begins with Chaos and Earth, follows the Titans and the rise of Zeus, and ends with the gods' children, including heroes born to goddesses and mortal men.
What is Works and Days about?
Works and Days is Hesiod's advice to his brother Perses. It explains why people must work, tells the myths of Pandora and the five ages, urges honest justice, and gives a farmer's calendar for plowing, harvest, and sailing.
Who wrote the Homeric Hymns?
Tradition credits the thirty-three hymns to Homer, but they are the work of many poets over several centuries. They praise gods such as Demeter, Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite, and some were sung as preludes before epic recitations.
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