Hesiod

Hesiod was an ancient Greek poet, usually placed around the late 8th or early 7th century BC, and is often considered one of the earliest major voices in Greek literature alongside Homer. Unlike the grand war-and-hero world of epic, his poetry often feels closer to everyday life, with a strong interest in work, justice, family conflict, and the order of the cosmos.

Two complete works are closely associated with him: Theogony, which sets out the origins and family lines of the Greek gods, and Works and Days, a poem that blends farming advice, moral instruction, and personal complaint. In Works and Days, he speaks of a dispute with his brother Perses, and that personal note has helped make him one of the few archaic Greek poets who seems to step forward as an individual.

Very little about his life can be known with certainty, and much of what is said about him comes from ancient tradition and from hints in the poems themselves. Even so, his influence has been enormous: for centuries, readers turned to him not just for stories about the gods, but for a picture of how the Greeks understood labor, justice, and the structure of the world.