The Wisdom of Hesiod

That book of Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days proved to be a spectacular investment on my part. I was curious what a writer who lived eight hundred years before the birth of Christ would have to say. There is no doubt that any man who gathers up all of Hesiod's wisdom will become an unstoppable force. Here are some of his pearls of wisdom:

"The 21st of the month is best after sunrise; it is worse toward evening. The middle 9th is a better day toward evening; but the first 9th is altogether harmless for men."

Aha! Hesiod divined the secrets of Numerology. Just as I've always suspected, there are good numbers and bad numbers!

"When your private parts are covered with semen indoors, do not let them be seen as you go near the hearth-fire, but avoid it."

I would certainly hope so.

"Never urinate in the waters of rivers that flow to the sea."

It is impolite to those that dwell downstream.

"Invite to dinner him who is friendly, and leave your enemy be."

I only wish I had known this before. All this time, I've been inviting my enemies to dinner and leaving my friends be.

Well, these are only examples of his sage instruction. Thank you, Hesiod. So much.

#

Although Hesiod presents an easy target for modern sarcasm, I am not serious, and would never consign his books to the garbage. Don't worry! I haven't had a good excuse to wax sarcastic in quite some time, and I needed to work out some of the irritation I had endured with Hesiod. Especially Theogony. Brother! It's not easy for me to read anyway, these days, with all the television shows competing for my attention, but trying to read Theogony really slowed me down. I was reading about three pages a day, if that, and sometimes less than a page.

Hesiod was an old, dear, quaint fellow, and I read him not so much for instruction, but to satisfy my curiosity about how people lived in those days. From that angle, Hesiod was a delight, especially Works and Days. Theogony I found impenetrable, just like Numbers in the Bible. Too many "begats" and not enough action. I liked Works and Days better. Hesiod is a learned man addressing simple men and therefore has no reservation against stating the obvious. What appears obvious to a modern was not always so to an ancient, particularly the rustics who composed Hesiod's audience.

Here's an interesting insight into marriage customs of the time:

In due season bring a wife into your house, when you are neither many years short of thirty nor many beyond it: this is your seasonable marriage. As for the woman, she should have four years of menstruation and be married in the fifth. Marry a virgin so that you may teach her good ways; and for preference marry her who lives near you, with all circumspection in case your marriage is a joke to the neighbors. For a man acquires nothing better than the good wife, and nothing worse than the bad one, the glutton, who singes a man without a brand, strong though he may be, and consigns him to premature old age.

In other words, be careful and know the person before you marry her. In Hesiod's time, just as today, men were marrying women based upon looks alone. I think the advice on "a seasonable age" for both the woman and the man is designed to encourage large families. The ancients always wanted large families, the better to protect against neighboring hostile tribes. Hesiod expected men to wait until thirty to marry, because prior to that, they liked to play the field, which encompassed same-sex as well as opposite-sex relationships.

Considering the history of Ancient Greece, it is probable that Hesiod gave advice concerning same-sex relationships, as well. According to the translator, many ancient manuscripts were partial scraps. The manuscripts may have been censored by prudish monks. What we possess are, in many cases, fragments of copies of copies, translated or not. The closest Hesiod comes to advice for gays concerns men who have "a dear friend that is like a brother," and there he offers little other than "repay any wrongs with vengeance that harms twice as much," which sounds foolish, and "always forgive the transgressor who tries to make amends," which sounds more reasonable. He notes that those who change their friends often should reflect upon their own disposition rather than blaming others, which seems reasonable for his time, although nowadays, we change locations so often that it may not be convenient to maintain long-distance friendships.