Works of Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns

"This volume includes Hesiod's Works and Days and Theogony, two of the oldest non-Homeric poems to survive from antiquity. Works and Days is in part a farmer's almanac - filled with cautionary tales and advice for managing harvests and maintaining a good work ethic - and Theogony is the earliest comprehensive account of classical mythology including, as it does, the names and genealogies of the gods (and giants and monsters) of Olympus, the sea, and the underworld. Throughout Hine brings out Hesiod's unmistakable personality; Hesiod's tales of his escapades and his gritty and persuasive voice not only give us a sense of the author's character but also offer up a rare glimpse of the everyday life of ordinary people in the eighth century BCE." "In contrast, the Homeric Hymns depict aristocratic life in a polished tone that reveals nothing of the narrators' personalities. These hymns (so named because they address the deities in short invocations at the beginning and end of each) are some of the earliest examples of epyllia, or short stories, in the epic manner in Greek." "This volume unites Hine's translations of the Works of Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns - along with his rendering of the mock-Homeric epic The Battle of the Frogs and the Mice - in a pairing of these important classics."--Jacket.