Works And Days

Epic poem by the 8th-century-BCE Greek writer Hesiod that is part almanac, part agricultural treatise, and part homily. It is addressed to his brother Perses, who by guile and bribery has already secured for himself an excessive share of their inheritance and is seeking to gain another advantage in a similar manner. Trying to dissuade him from such practices, Hesiod recounts in the first part of the poem two myths illustrating the necessity for honest, hard work in life. One takes up and continues the story of Pandora, who out of curiosity opens a jar, loosing multifarious evils on humanity, and the other traces human decline since the Golden Age. Against the brutality and injustice of his contemporaries, Hesiod affirms his unshakable belief in the power of justice.