Penguin Classics Theogony And Works And Days And Elegies [Paperback]

 

 

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Penguin translations often go too far in pursuit of a contemporary and popular sound, for instance in the infamous Rieu translations of Homer, with Athena "dancing attendance on Odysseus like a lover"; but this one is perfect, probably the best of the entire Penguin Classics collection. The jewel in this excellent book is the translation of Hesiod's WORKS AND DAYS; a translation of exceptional quality, worthy of being mentioned in one breath with Robert Fagles and C.Day Lewis.
Next to it are the wonderful, engaging introductory essays, in which Professor Wender shows the most enchanting insight into the mentality and attitude of her poets, making them live on the page for us. It is unmistakeably the work of a specialist, yet it is pitched - successfully - at the ordinary reader. A person who knows nothing about the Classics will leave them not only having a clear and precise idea of the characters of Hesiod and Theognis, but having learned a considerable amount about what makes good poetry. If the translation shows the poetic gifts of a Fagles or Lewis, the introduction shows the critical eye of a truly great critic - a C.S.Lewis, a Matthew Arnold. Do not be misled by the reviewer who says that she "carps" at the Theogony; he is only showing his shock at the notion that someone might have different views from his own. Professor Wender's criticisms are justified, especially in view of her very insightful comparison of the literary quality of the THEOGONY and that of the WORKS AND DAYS. This is the model of what a paperback translation of a classic work should be. As for the verse, I can do no better than to quote the terrible sequence, building up to a smashing final blow, which Professor Wender herself mentions as a fine instance of the poetic excellence of the author of the WORKS AND DAYS, but which might as well feature as the type of her own fluent and beautiful poetic ear; think, as you listen, of that last white flash of deathless beauty, vanishing away to the land of the Gods to leave men abandoned to their fate:
Zeus will destroy this race of mortal men
When babies shall be born with greying hair.
Father will have no common bond with son,
Neither will guest with host, nor friend with friend;
The brother-love of past days will be gone.
Men will dishonour parents who grow old
Too quickly, and will blame and criticize
With cruel words. Wretched and godless, they,
Refusing to repay their bringing up,
Will cheat their aged parents of their due.
Men will destroy the towns of other men.
The just, the good, the man who keeps his word
Will be despised, but men will praise the bad
And insolent. Might will be right, and shame
Will cease to be. Men will do injury
To better men by speaking crooked words
And adding lying oaths; and everywhere,
Harsh-voiced and sullen-faced and loving harm,
Envy will walk along with wretched men.
Last to Olympus from the broadpathed Earth,
Hiding their loveliness in robes of white
To join the gods, abandoning mankind
Will go the spirits Righteousness and Shame;
And only grievous troubles will be left
For men, and no defence against our wrongs.

Hesiod is thought to have lived about the same time as Homer. In his "Theogony" he offers perhaps the most detailed Grecian creation myth still in existence. It traces the emergence of Gaia, her marriage to Ouranos, the fatherly castrations (Kronos / Ouranos & Zeus / Kronos), the hegemony of Zeus as well as a good bit of neurotic misogyny mixed in for good measure. The geneologies serve as a wonderful preamble for those who wish to read Homer and Virgil later on.

Above all else, however, Hesiod pays homage to Zeus. In page after page, the adulation that the author holds for the thunder god is unmistakable. There is no doubting as to who the "hero" of the poem is.

"Works And Days" can best be described as one of the earliest farmers almanacs in the western world. It is written as an "instruction manual for life" for his indolent brother, Perses. Throughout the work, Hesiod admonishes Perses on the subjects of ethics, self-control and moderation. He also writes on how to run a farm and when the best times to sail are. Later authors of this genre, such as Xenophon & Virgil, doubtlessly were inspired by Hesiod.

Theognis came a few centuries later than Hesiod, somewhere around 550 BC. His "Elegies" give a fascinating look at the transformation of Greek life in the 6th century. Slowly but surely, the Aristoi (the Greek ruling party) saw the erosion of its status, power & wealth. No longer were armies made up of the elite class; more and more, armies were comprised of hoplites, made up of working-class peasants. Along with the wartime duties went the justification (Arete) of the Aristoi's claim to power.

In the "Elegies" we discover the frustrations of an upper-class Grecian gentleman who is forced to deal with the changing idealogies. He spurns the thought of poverty above all else, but comes to the realization that, for the 1st time, it is possible for a member of the Aristoi to be poor.

Like Hesiod, much of Theognis is told in an advisory manner. However, Theognis is far more inconsistent than H, especially when it comes to the concept of wealth.

Wender does an exceptional job at translating these early Greek texts. She also offers helpful introductions which set the tone for both authors' poems. Her commentary is especially insightful on why she believes there were "2" Hesiods (1 artist for each poem) rather than 1.

I will leave you with a sagacious passage from one of Theognis' elegies:

No one is always lucky in all things;

Good men endure bad luck without complaint,

The common man cannot control himself

In good times or in bad. All sorts of gifts

Come to us mortals from the gods; we must

Endure, whatever sorts of gifts they give.

441-446

This is a collection of the poetry of Hesiod and Theognis, two Greek poets who lived 2500 or more years ago. I haven't a clue why they are included together, for all they have in common is their nationality. They lived two centuries apart, and their respective styles and subject matter are completely different. Hesiod wrote long didactic poetry, Theognis short epigrams. But no matter.

In her introduction Wender goes on and on about how rotten a poem the "Theogony" is. She carps over this so much, that one wonders: if it's so bad, then why translate it? Because it is so bad, she argues, it could not have been written by the Hesiod who wrote the "Works and Days", because no poet who wrote good in one place could write so bad in another. Whether or not Hesiod wrote both pieces, Wender is being incredibly naive if she thinks that a good poet is consistently good. Whitman and Coleridge, great poets both, have some really sorry stuff in their body of work, but they wrote it all none the less. Anyway, I read the "Theogony," and liked it, so I don't know what Wender was complaining about. From the nature of her complaints (Hesiod didn't play up such-and-such incident, etc.) it looks like a 20th century individual unable to properly appreciate 8th century BC interests and poetics. I do agree with her that the "Works and Days" is a wonderful piece of poetry.

As for Theognis, he is uneven. Much of his stuff is pedestrian, although quite a bit is interesting, like "The city's pregnant, Kurnos, and I fear | She'll bear a man to crush our swelling pride," which is rather an acute and vivid description of how dictators grow out of mob rule. One thing that annoyed me, though, was the way Wender marked out the poems of Theognis she liked with an asterisk. I don't know why, but that just rubbed me the wrong way. For one, it's all subjective, and many of the poems she liked I didn't care for, and many of the poems I liked were unasterisked. Basically, who cares about her opinion of the poems? If I like it, I like it - her asterisk or not.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A good translation . . .
M. L. West's translation of Hesiod's "Theogony Works and Days" is very readable and enjoyable if one likes Hesiod. Read more

Published on Mar 28 2000

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