Hesiod's Cosmos
Hesiod's Cosmos offers a comprehensive interpretation of both the Theogony and the Works and Days and demonstrates how the two Hesiodic poems must be read together as two halves of an integrated whole embracing both the divine and the human cosmos. After first offering a survey of the structure of both poems, Professor Clay reveals their mutually illuminating unity by offering detailed analyses of their respective poems, their teachings on the origins of the human race and the two versions of the Prometheus myth. She then examines the role of human beings in the Theogony and the role of the gods in the Works and Days, as well as the position of the hybrid figures of monsters and heroes within the Hesiodic cosmos and in relation to the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women.
- Revolutionizes our view of Hesiod by revealing the complexity of his thought
- Written in a lucid style suitable for students
- Will appeal to all those interested in Greek mythology
Reviews & endorsements
"...an excellent scholarly book abounding in insights and informed by a vast scholarship. Highly recommended." Choice
"Clay's valuable book should become essential reading on Hesiod and archaic Greek poetry." New England Classical Journal
"This is a virtuoso performance by a scholar whose knowledge of Hesiod few can match. It is a book that first-time readers of Hesiod, including students, can profit from, while it challenges recent critical and scholaraly perspectives." Classical World, Robert Lamberton, Washington University in St. Louis
"passionate, well-argued, deeply researched, driven by fresh perspectives which will challenge, provoke and excite" - Stephen Scully, Department of Classical Studies, Boston University
Product details
July 2009Paperback
9780521117685
216 pages
229 × 152 × 12 mm
0.32kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 1. Orientations: the Theogony
- 2. Orientations: the Works and Days
- 3. Overtures
- 4. The origins of mankind
- 5. The two Prometheuses
- 6. Perspectives on gods and men
- 7. Hybrids
- Conclusion.
