An Artistic and Optimistic Passage in Hesiod: Works and Days 564-614

Abstract

This article analyzes the third section of the agricultural portion of Hesiod's Works and Days. It argues that this section has little to do with a succession of seasonal tasks or with drudgery previously justified on the grounds of morality and profit, as in some common views of the overall work. Rather, the passage is an accomplished example of art that maintains a positive attitude toward the part of life it treats.