10 h 21 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 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
For readers who love myth, early poetry, or the roots of Western stories, and for anyone who wants the source behind familiar names.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Hesiod sings the birth of the gods
- Zeus wins and sets the world's order
- Works and Days teaches work and justice
- The farming year and practical advice
- The Homeric Hymns praise the gods in story
- The Homerica and the fragments fill in the rest
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Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
by Hesiod
The Muses meet Hesiod on Helicon, opening a world of divine births, struggles for rule, and human justice.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
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In short
Imagine holding the oldest voices of Greek poetry in your hands. This book gathers the poems of Hesiod, a farmer and singer who lived about the time of Homer.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Hesiod sings the birth of the gods
The Theogony is about origins. The poet says the Muses met him while he tended sheep on Mount Helicon and gave him the gift of song. That scene sets the claim of the whole poem: what follows comes from beings who know the truth.
First comes Chaos, a yawning space. Then Gaia, the Earth, appears, along with dark Tartarus and Eros, the force of desire. From Gaia comes Uranus, the Sky, and together they bring forth the Titans, the Cyclopes and the hundred-handed giants.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 6 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 6 h 40 min
- Level
- Medium level
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Questions about Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
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What is Hesiod's Theogony about?
It tells how the world and the gods came into being, from Chaos and Earth through the Titans to the rule of Zeus.
What are the Homeric Hymns?
They are thirty-three songs to Greek gods such as Demeter, Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite. Though named for Homer, scholars think they were composed by many poets. Singers used them as openers to longer recitals and festival songs.
What is the Homerica?
It is the name for the remains of early Greek epics outside the Iliad and Odyssey, called the Epic Cycle. These poems told the rest of the Trojan and Theban stories, but survive mostly in fragments and summaries.
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