Hesiod
c. 8th century BCE

Hesiod (c. 8th century BCE) was an ancient Greek poet, thought to have been active around the same time as Homer. He is the author of Theogony, which tells the origins of the gods, and Works and Days, a poem that describes the five Ages of Man.
Unlike Homer, Hesiod’s poems contain some references to his own life, especially in Works and Days. Thus, he is considered to be one single, real person, and one of the first authors in the Western tradition to understand himself as an individual persona.
⚡️ Spark note: This note is preliminary and will likely be expanded later.
Mentioned in
Ancient political thought
Ancient political thought is the study of a continuous, coherent, and highly influential tradition of reflection on political life. To...
Theogony
Theogony (Θεογονία, literally “the birth of the gods”) is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins of the Greek gods....
Works and Days
Works and Days (Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι) is a poem by Hesiod, written around 700 BCE. In the poem — part...