John S. Ott
Portland State University
HST 101: Western Civilizations
Study Questions and Reading Guide: Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Days, and Genesis 1 - 13:18
This week we will be reading part of Hesiod's Theogeny and all of the Works and Days, plus excerpts from Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Please read the following background material and look over these questions before you begin the readings. You are not responsbible for compiling answers to the questions below, but preparing them should both enhance class discussion and your reading of the texts.We are starting off the term with two works by Hesiod, a Greek poet who flourished in the last third of the eighth century BCE (Before Common Era). Hesiod lived in central Greece (Boeotia), where he was apparently a farmer and sheepherder. His poetry contains themes borrowed from other epic traditions of the Mediterranean world, including the eleventh-century BCE Babylonian Epic of Creation, as well as from Hittite cosmology. (The Hittites were an Indo-European people who settled in Asia Minor (what is now Turkey).)
The poetic language Hesiod uses can seem stilted and archaic to modern ears, so read slowly with an eye toward the broader themes he raises. The Theogeny, an elaborate genealogy of the Greek gods, alone contains the names of over 300 gods and heroes--you do not have to keep track of them all. Keep focused on the important figures, such as Zeus, Kronos (Zeus' father), and Prometheus, and mythological episodes. The second poem, Works and Days, was addressed to the author's brother, Perses, and mingles mundane wisdom (like a "how to" guide) with a broader account of Greek history.
The Hebrew Bible was composed in stages over a period extending from the twelfth to the second century BCE. The earliest writings--including the Pentateuch, or the "five scrolls" that contain the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy--were probably compiled into a continuous form during the reign of Solomon in the tenth century BCE. The accounts of Genesis that we will be reading are thus at minimum two centuries older than Hesiod's works, and likely entered written tradition four centuries earlier.
As you read, consider the following questions:(1) Does Hesiod appear to have any real sense of or need for chronology? Does he care about dates and times? If so, when? If not, why? How about the Genesis author (same questions)?
(2) Why do you think Hesiod chooses the exploits of gods and heroes as his subject matter? Who are the gods? What roles do humans play in the Theogeny and Works, and what is their relationship to the gods of Olympus? What can a society's relationship with its gods tells us about that society's values?
(3) Do you see any parallels between the Greek and Jewish foundation stories in their explanation for the beginning of the world and the place of human beings within it? If so, what are they?
(4) What is the role of women, or gods with feminine qualities, in these creation accounts?
(5) What can we tell about the authors of these texts from their writings? What can we tell about their audiences?