Read Hesiod Theogony Works and Days Shield Hesiod Apostolos N Athanassakis Books
Read Hesiod Theogony Works and Days Shield Hesiod Apostolos N Athanassakis Books
Download As PDF : Hesiod Theogony Works and Days Shield Hesiod Apostolos N Athanassakis Books
Hesiod belongs to the transitional period in Greek civilization between the oral tradition and the introduction of a written alphabet. His two major surviving works, the Theogony and the Works and Days, address the divine and the mundane, respectively. The Theogony traces the origins of the Greek gods and recounts the events surrounding the crowning of Zeus as their king. A manual of moral instruction in verse, the Works and Days was addressed to farmers and peasants.
Introducing his celebrated translations of these two poems and of the Shield, a very ancient poem of disputed authorship, Apostolos Athanassakis positions Hesiod simultaneously as a philosopher-poet, a bard with deep roots in the culture of his native Boeotia, and the heir to a long tradition of Hellenic poetry. For this eagerly anticipated revised edition, Athanassakis has provided an expanded introduction on Hesiod and his work, subtly amended his faithful translations, significantly augmented the notes and index, and updated the bibliography. Already a classic, Hesiod Theogony, Works and Days, Shield is now more valuable than ever for students of Greek mythology and literature.
Read Hesiod Theogony Works and Days Shield Hesiod Apostolos N Athanassakis Books
"There is something about Stanley Lombardo's translation of "Works and Days" that makes me - no expert in this field - think of Bob Dylan or even Gordon Lightfoot - singers from the 60s and 70s who "sang story" in words that had to be heard over and over again, and never mind the CD liner notes. "Works And Days" comes across as run-together songs of wisdom rooted in very specific, localized moments of place, time and actions. I began reading it silently - a very modern habit, after all - and after a page or two found myself reading aloud because Lombardo has given, or caught, a definite, distinctive and specific voice here. Yes, rustic and vulgar, but there are notes of pithy sharpness, and little riffs of humor, and always just enough "what IS he talking about??" to leave you with a sense of mysteries and insights beyond the surface practical knowledge of seasonal planting, tending, harvesting and harrowing
"Theogony" comes in a differently distinctive voice, a really energetic narrative-poetic voice that can be both intimate and resonant at the same time. For those of us who have half or completely forgotten our Greek gods, goddesses, heroes and muses, here it all is, this is where they were all organized into generations and Ages of This and That... There is something close to soft affection in places (the Storm King's daughters, e.g. at line 50ff), while the recitative concerning the battle of the Titans - especially the fiery, thunderous descent of Zeus - needs Beethoven's Fifth crashing behind the scenes.
A wonderful piece of work; I want the audio format for grandchild and god-children. Great stuff. Buy it."
Product details
|
Tags : Hesiod Theogony, Works and Days, Shield (9780801879845) Hesiod, Apostolos N. Athanassakis Books,Hesiod, Apostolos N. Athanassakis,Hesiod Theogony, Works and Days, Shield,Johns Hopkins University Press,0801879841,Ancient Classical,Folklore Mythology,Agriculture;Greece;Poetry.,Didactic poetry, Greek;Translations into English.,Religious poetry, Greek;Translations into English.,Ancient (Classical) Greek,Ancient - General,Ancient and Classical,Classical history / classical civilisation,Customs folklore,Didactic poetry, Greek,General,Hellenic languages,Heracles (Greek mythology),History/Ancient - General,LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient Classical,Literary studies general,Literature - Classics / Criticism,Myths mythology,Poetry,Poetry/General,Religious poetry, Greek,Social Science,Social Science / Folklore Mythology,Sociology,Sociology, Social Studies,Translations into English,Works by individual poets classical, early medieval
Hesiod Theogony Works and Days Shield Hesiod Apostolos N Athanassakis Books Reviews :
Hesiod Theogony Works and Days Shield Hesiod Apostolos N Athanassakis Books Reviews
- The Theogony and Works and Days contain the Greek understandings of divinity and human history at about the time they first learned to write. Unsurprisingly, the stories appear strange and even bizarre to the modern reader. The writing itself is difficult to follow with frequent tangents, etymologies, stories and practical advice all somehow in the same text.
Given that there are modern retellings of the same myths that are much easier to read, and probably more pleasurable, is there any reason to read these tales in an archaic form?
I would argue yes, if one is truly interested in understanding human origins. When Plato or Xenophanes criticize the poets for slandering the gods, they are referring to Hesiod and Homer. If one chooses to read modern retellings of the myths, they typically come across as so many entertaining stories.
In Hesiod, however, one can see the myths as first efforts at understanding the human predicament. One can then see the foil for the Athenian movement away from archaic mythologies and toward democracy and reason. The Socratic/Platonic effort to reform education and society becomes then so much more vivid. (Though Plato himself had a complex and not easily understood relationship with myth.)
In other words, it is difficult to understand Greek civilization without the somewhat painful reading of an archaic text like Hesiod. Only by immersing oneself in the labyrinthine divine and human genealogies of Hesiod can one truly appreciate the rational/democratic Athenian revolution.
Not pleasure reading but time well spent nonetheless. - The translator for Penguin gives off an odd vibe with her notes and introduction and overall presentation; and seems to generally make unfounded or weak claims about the validity and meaning of certain lines or facts, BUT I still enjoyed reading it despite the lack of interesting critical scholarship. I went with Penguin's version over Oxford because they included Theognis' Elegies as well, which is the bulk of this book. What little of the Oxford translation I could read seemed congested and unrhythmic, whereas Penguin's translation remains poetic without abandoning the source text. It also seems odd that they would leave out the Shield of Herakles considering this volume is quite brief, though dense.
The Theogony is a really fascinating creation story that details many of the bizarre creatures and gods of Greek myth and a loose chronology and family tree. It may come off as too much information for a casual reader, as it rattles off lots of dense information and names, but it's perhaps the oldest Greek source of myth that we have, so it's hard not to be interested; especially when you consider that it is almost certainly a more recent representation of older texts which are no longer extant.
Works and Days is a more practical, down to earth sort of work, dealing with social, farming, and religious advice.
Theognis' Elegies are a very curious mixture of ethical and social maxims, and numerous love poems from elder to protege. At times these Elegies read a bit like a Greek Confucious and share some similarities with the Analects, although the Elegies seem to be a much more infomral collection of poems and Theognis' is far more prone to go against his own wisdom when it comes to his lover and the state of his city. - There is something about Stanley Lombardo's translation of "Works and Days" that makes me - no expert in this field - think of Bob Dylan or even Gordon Lightfoot - singers from the 60s and 70s who "sang story" in words that had to be heard over and over again, and never mind the CD liner notes. "Works And Days" comes across as run-together songs of wisdom rooted in very specific, localized moments of place, time and actions. I began reading it silently - a very modern habit, after all - and after a page or two found myself reading aloud because Lombardo has given, or caught, a definite, distinctive and specific voice here. Yes, rustic and vulgar, but there are notes of pithy sharpness, and little riffs of humor, and always just enough "what IS he talking about??" to leave you with a sense of mysteries and insights beyond the surface practical knowledge of seasonal planting, tending, harvesting and harrowing
"Theogony" comes in a differently distinctive voice, a really energetic narrative-poetic voice that can be both intimate and resonant at the same time. For those of us who have half or completely forgotten our Greek gods, goddesses, heroes and muses, here it all is, this is where they were all organized into generations and Ages of This and That... There is something close to soft affection in places (the Storm King's daughters, e.g. at line 50ff), while the recitative concerning the battle of the Titans - especially the fiery, thunderous descent of Zeus - needs Beethoven's Fifth crashing behind the scenes.
A wonderful piece of work; I want the audio format for grandchild and god-children. Great stuff. Buy it. - The translator disingenuously invokes a supposed need to spare us the "drudgery of footnotes" — which perhaps suggests he was simply too unmotivated to supply them, but in any case meaning this is not a serious translation, one worthy of Hesiod's great works.
Roger Scruton's contribution amounts to two paragraphs — and ones scarcely worth reading.
The word "hubris" does not occur once in the book — despite this being the central ethical concern and unifying concept of the Theogony and Works and Days.
For a metrical and truly artistic translation, one more likely to delight and edify, try Thomas Cooke's Works of Hesiod (1743; reprinted with modern spelling in 1822).
And for a technical translation, there's Most (2006), which not only supplies generous explanatory notes and informative essays, but contains the Greek text as well.
Comments
Post a Comment