ON Paradise Lost. WHen I beheld the Poet blind, yet bold, In slender Book his vast Design unfold, Messiah Crown'd, Gods Reconcil'd Decree, Rebelling Angels, the.
HESIOD, THEOGONY - Theoi Classical Texts Library. Classical Texts Library > > Hesiod, Theogony. HESIOD was a Greek epic poet who flourished in Boeotia in the C8th B.
C. He was alongside Homer the most respected of the old Greek poets. His works included a poem titled the Theogony, a cosmological work describing the origins and genealogy of the gods, Works and Days, on the subjects of farming, morality and country life, and a large number of lost or now fragmentary poems including the Catalogues of Women, Eoiae, and Astronomy. Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica. Translated by Evelyn- White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 5. London: William Heinemann, 1.
- HESIOD was a Greek epic poet who flourished in Boeotia in the C8th B.C. He was alongside Homer the most respected of the old Greek poets. His works included a poem.
- The cosmos (UK: / . The philosopher.
- Automatically formats, alphabetize, and prints bibliographies for free.
Simply print out and fill in the blanks in this gorgeous and memorable 100 Reasons Why I Love You book. Perfect for your next anniversary, birthday, Valentine's Day.
The Evelyn- White volume is no longer in print but second- hand copies might be obtained from Amazon. In addition to the Theogony the volume also contains Hesiod's Works and Days, Shield of Heracles, Hesiodic fragments, Homeric Hymns, and fragments of Epic Cycle poems. Loeb has now replaced this volume with three new translations, one containing the works Hesiod, another fragments of early Greek Epic and the third the Homeric Hymns and Homerica. These, as well as several other more recent translations and academic commentaries, appear in the booklist (left below). HESIOD CONTENTSTHEOGONY1. Hymn to the Muses. Spirits of Night 5.
The Titans. 8. Hymn to Hecate. Children of Cronus. Prometheus. 11. Titanomachy. Cosmography. 13. Olympian Gods.
Goddesses and Men. WORKS AND DAYSSHIELD OF HERACLESCATALOGUES OF WOMENMISCELLANEOUS FRAGMENTSHYMN TO THE MUSES.
Thence they arise and go abroad by night, veiled in thick mist, and utter their song with lovely voice, praising Zeus the aegis- holder and queenly Hera of Argos who walks on golden sandals and the daughter of Zeus the aegis- holder bright- eyed Athene, and Phoebus Apollo, and Artemis who delights in arrows, and Poseidon the earth- holder who shakes the earth, and reverend Themis and quick- glancing. Aphrodite, and Hebe with the crown of gold, and fair Dione, Leto, Iapetus, and Cronos the crafty counsellor, Eos and great Helius and bright Selene, Earth too, and great Oceanus, and dark Night, and the holy race of all the other deathless ones that are for ever. And one day they taught Hesiod glorious song while he was shepherding his lambs under holy Helicon, and this word first the goddesses said to me – the Muses of Olympus, daughters of Zeus who holds the aegis: . But why all this about oak or stone? Unwearying flows the sweet sound from their lips, and the house of their father Zeus the loud- thunderer is glad at the lily- like voice of the goddesses as it spread abroad, and the peaks of snowy Olympus resound, and the homes of the immortals. And they uttering their immortal voice, celebrate in song first of all the reverend race of the gods from the beginning, those whom Earth and wide Heaven begot, and the gods sprung of these, givers of good things.
Then, next, the goddesses sing of Zeus, the father of gods and men, as they begin and end their strain, how much he is the most excellent among the gods and supreme in power. And again, they chant the race of men and strong giants, and gladden the heart of Zeus within Olympus, - - the Olympian Muses, daughters of Zeus the aegis- holder. For nine nights did wise Zeus lie with her, entering her holy bed remote from the immortals. Maps For Tomtom Start 25 Maps. And when a year was passed and the seasons came round as the months waned, and many days were accomplished, she bare nine daughters, all of one mind, whose hearts are set upon song and their spirit free from care, a little way from the topmost peak of snowy Olympus.
There are their bright dancing- places and beautiful homes, and beside them the Graces and Himerus (Desire) live in delight. And they, uttering through their lips a lovely voice, sing the laws of all and the goodly ways of the immortals, uttering their lovely voice. Then went they to Olympus, delighting in their sweet voice, with heavenly song, and the dark earth resounded about them as they chanted, and a lovely sound rose up beneath their feet as they went to their father. And he was reigning in heaven, himself holding the lightning and glowing thunderbolt, when he had overcome by might his father Cronos; and he distributed fairly to the immortals their portions and declared their privileges. All the people look towards him while he settles causes with true judgements: and he, speaking surely, would soon make wise end even of a great quarrel; for therefore are there princes wise in heart, because when the people are being misguided in their assembly, they set right the matter again with ease, persuading them with gentle words.
And when he passes through a gathering, they greet him as a god with gentle reverence, and he is conspicuous amongst the assembled: such is the holy gift of the Muses to men. For it is through the Muses and far- shooting Apollo that there are singers and harpers upon the earth; but princes are of Zeus, and happy is he whom the Muses love: sweet flows speech from his mouth. For though a man have sorrow and grief in his newly- troubled soul and live in dread because his heart is distressed, yet, when a singer, the servant of the Muses, chants the glorious deeds of men of old and the blessed gods who inhabit Olympus, at once he forgets his heaviness and remembers not his sorrows at all; but the gifts of the goddesses soon turn him away from these.! Grant lovely song and celebrate the holy race of the deathless gods who are for ever, those that were born of Earth and starry Heaven and gloomy Night and them that briny Sea did rear. Tell how at the first gods and earth came to be, and rivers, and the boundless sea with its raging swell, and the gleaming stars, and the wide heaven above, and the gods who were born of them, givers of good things, and how they divided their wealth, and how they shared their honours amongst them, and also how at the first they took many- folded Olympus. These things declare to me from the beginning, ye Muses who dwell in the house of Olympus, and tell me which of them first came to be. THE COSMOGONY. From Chaos came forth Erebus and black Night; but of Night were born Aether.
Day, whom she conceived and bare from union in love with Erebus. And Earth first bare starry Heaven, equal to herself, to cover her on every side, and to be an ever- sure abiding- place for the blessed gods. And she brought forth long Hills, graceful haunts of the goddess- Nymphs who dwell amongst the glens of the hills.
She bare also the fruitless deep with his raging swell, Pontus, without sweet union of love. THE CASTRATION OF URANUS.
After them was born Cronos the wily, youngest and most terrible of her children, and he hated his lusty sire. And they were surnamed Cyclopes (Orb- eyed) because one orbed eye was set in their foreheads. Strength and might and craft were in their works.
From their shoulders sprang an hundred arms, not to be approached, and each had fifty heads upon his shoulders on their strong limbs, and irresistible was the stubborn strength that was in their great forms. For of all the children that were born of Earth and Heaven, these were the most terrible, and they were hated by their own father from the first. And he used to hide them all away in a secret place of Earth so soon as each was born, and would not suffer them to come up into the light: and Heaven rejoiced in his evil doing. But vast Earth groaned within, being straitened, and she made the element of grey flint and shaped a great sickle, and told her plan to her dear sons. But great Cronos the wily took courage and answered his dear mother: “Mother, I will undertake to do this deed, for I reverence not our father of evil name, for he first thought of doing shameful things.”.
And not vainly did they fall from his hand; for all the bloody drops that gushed forth Earth received, and as the seasons moved round she bare the strong Erinyes and the great Giants with gleaming armour, holding long spears in their hands and the Nymphs whom they call Meliae. And so soon as he had cut off the members with flint and cast them from the land into the surging sea, they were swept away over the main a long time: and a white foam spread around them from the immortal flesh, and in it there grew a maiden. First she drew near holy Cythera, and from there, afterwards, she came to sea- girt Cyprus, and came forth an awful and lovely goddess, and grass grew up about her beneath her shapely feet. Her gods and men call Aphrodite, and the foam- born goddess and rich- crowned Cytherea, because she grew amid the foam, and Cytherea because she reached Cythera, and Cyprogenes because she was born in billowy Cyprus, and Philommedes. And with her went Eros, and comely Desire followed her at her birth at the first and as she went into the assembly of the gods. This honour she has from the beginning, and this is the portion allotted to her amongst men and undying gods, - - the whisperings of maidens and smiles and deceits with sweet delight and love and graciousness. And again the goddess murky Night, though she lay with none, bare Blame and painful Woe, and the Hesperides who guard the rich, golden apples and the trees bearing fruit beyond glorious Ocean.
Also she bare the Destinies and ruthless avenging Fates, Clotho and Lachesis and Atropos,1. Also deadly Night bare Nemesis (Indignation) to afflict mortal men, and after her, Deceit and Friendship and hateful Age and hard- hearted Strife. And yet again he got great Thaumas and proud Phoreys, being mated with Earth, and fair- cheeked Ceto and Eurybia who has a heart of flint within her. These fifty daughters sprang from blameless Nereus, skilled in excellent crafts.
With her lay the Dark- haired One. And when Perseus cut off her head, there sprang forth great Chrysaor and the horse Pegasus who is so called because he was born near the springs (pegae) of Ocean; and that other, because he held a golden blade (aor) in his hands.
Enter the Bible - Books: Numbers. According to Numbers 3: 5- 1.
Levites are . Aaron had the authority that came with being Moses' brother, and he had served Moses in priestly fashion as mediator and interpreter. He and his descendants were consecrated as priests of God in Exodus 2. The sons of Levi .
Thus, in Numbers they were not enrolled with the other tribes in the census, but were appointed to serve and care for the tabernacle (Numbers 1: 4. According to 3: 1. Levites serve as substitutes for the firstborn of Israel. All the firstborn properly belong to God, because God spared Israel's firstborn during the exodus (Exodus 1. Levites are consecrated to God's service in place of all the firstborn. Snakes were ambiguous figures in the ancient world.
They could bring death, as in Numbers 2. Genesis 3, or serve as a sign of life and healing, as in the case of the Greek god Asclepius. Archaeologists have found bronze serpents at several Palestinian sites.
In biblical tradition, the bronze serpent of the wilderness, later placed in the temple of Jerusalem because of its historical and theological significance, eventually became treated as an idol and had to be discarded as part of Hezekiah's reform (2 Kings 1. Biblical theology made clear that the power of the serpent was not in the thing itself, nor in any magical rite associated with the serpent, but solely in God, who had given the serpent as an act of healing and grace.
According to Numbers, only Caleb and Joshua will be permitted to survive the forty years in the wilderness and enter the promised land (Numbers 1. They were of . The theme of saving righteous individuals from communal disaster brought about by rebellion against God is not unlike the rescue of Noah and his family during the flood (Genesis 6: 8- 9). Joshua was appointed Moses' successor (Numbers 2.
Caleb. The purpose of the two censuses in Numbers, according to the text, is to enroll . The census would, apparently, count and verify Israel's strength, encouraging the people as they prepare for the encounter with Canaan. Curiously, David's census- -apparently for the same military purpose- -is condemned, so much so that the Chronicler terms it an act incited by Satan (1 Chronicles 2.
Samuel 2. 4: 1). David's census results in the kind of plague that had to be warded off as a potential effect of the census in Exodus 3. Although in Numbers the censuses are approved, elsewhere they are understood as dangerous exercises, perhaps because they assume Israel's strength to lie in its armies rather than in its reliance upon God. According to Numbers 1. Israelites, because of their rebellion against Moses and Aaron and their fear of going forward on God's journey (1. Forty years in the Bible is generally regarded as the span of a complete generation. The harsh penalty derives from the understanding that the rebellion against the leaders is ultimately a rebellion against God (1.
God will begin the new nation with a new, cleansed people. According to the priestly writers, the forty years ended with the death of Aaron (3. Although earlier on, Midian had provided for Moses both a place of refuge and a wife (Exodus 2: 1. Numbers Midian has become Israel's foe, enticing them to idolatry and apostasy (Numbers 2. The result will be a battle to .
There is no historical evidence that such holy wars of complete annihilation were ever fought by Israel. The language is more symbolic, announcing that finally nothing will be allowed to stand in the way of God's liberation of God's people and blessing of the world. The book of Numbers continues the murmuring stories that began immediately after the crossing of the sea in Exodus. In the early stories, God responds positively to Israel's complaints. God sweetens the water at Marah (Exodus 1. With the growing sense that Israel's complaint is finally .
In the final story of the series, the account of the bronze serpent, the narrator says directly that Israel spoke not only against Moses but also . The result is death.
This is not just a threat from a capricious God; it is a theological fact. God is the source of life, so rebellion against God is rebellion against life itself; death will naturally ensue. Numbers 6: 1- 2. 1 defines the Nazirite vow, by which a man or woman became especially dedicated to God for a temporary period (in Hebrew, nazir means .
Nazirites were required to abstain from wine, strong drink, and grape products; not to cut their hair; and not to go near a corpse. Samson was to be a lifelong Nazirite, set apart to deliver Israel from the Philistines (Judges 1.
Samuel, too, was set apart as a lifelong Nazirite, given by his mother Hannah to serve God in the sanctuary at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1: 1. Although the term is not used, some interpret the asceticism of John the Baptist as a form of Nazirite vow (Luke 1: 1. Others see a connection between Jesus as a . According to the spies who returned from the land of Canaan, they had seen there Nephilim (or Anakites), who made them seem .
The presence of these very large people in Canaan becomes one reason for the spies' fear and their false unfavorable report about the land. This produced the people's rebellion in Numbers 1. The Nephilim appear in Genesis 6: 4, perhaps as synonymous with the . The spies' identification of some of the Canaanites with these mythic figures of the Genesis prehistory may simply reflect their fear or may suggest that there were, in fact, some very large (to the Hebrews) men among the Canaanite population.
The book of Numbers gets its English name by way of the Septuagint, which used the term because of the census that begins the book and the second one in chapter 2. The totals given for the men of fighting age (1: 4. Some suggest that the seemingly impossible numbers have been corrupted, but it seems better to assume that they are in some way symbolic, perhaps representing how the community grew and prospered over time to fulfill the promise given to Abraham in Genesis 1.
Interpreters have sought other ways, as well, to explain the symbolic value of these numbers. The numbers from the census in 2 Samuel 2. The numbers in the second census (Numbers 2.
Numbers 1: 4. 6, all of whom died in the wilderness (2. According to Numbers, Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, . For this, Phinehas and his descendants were granted a . Phinehas's act lived on in Israelite tradition; it was recited as part of the salvation history in Psalm 1. Maccabees in the second century B.
C. E., who, like Phinehas, turned away God's wrath by executing apostate Israelites (1 Maccabees 1: 6. The significance of Phinehas and of atoning God's wrath through sacrifice grew in postexilic Israel until, by the time of Sirach (second century B. C. E.), Phinehas was regarded as . The cultural and spiritual relevance of many cultic practices described in Numbers are assumed, rather than explained. This means that the contemporary reader is truly entering a world that is foreign and distant.
Viewing this world from the perspective of anthropology can help us understand and appreciate that such rituals reflect the deepest values of a culture, shaping its views on many of life's important events and transitions. Among other things, priestly law sought to appreciate and maintain the order with which God had created the world.
Chaos always remained a threat, especially in an early world of danger and vulnerability, so dietary and purity laws, along with careful observance of calendars and rituals, were ways to participate in God's order and to ensure a safe and secure world. For the world of Numbers, God is holy and can only be approached soberly, carefully, and through the mediation of the priest. Concerns for an intimate and individual relation to God, common in contemporary religion and spirituality, are largely unknown in that early culture. God is dangerous- -not because God is angry or essentially a God of wrath, but simply because God is God. Rites of purity and sacrificial rituals are ways by which God graciously allows people access to God without the risks that come with approach to the holy.
The care and detail laid down earlier in the Pentateuch for building the tabernacle (Exodus 2. God deigns to descend and to dwell among God's people, the place where heaven and earth are linked. The tabernacle or tent of meeting served during the wilderness period as a kind of movable temple and shared many characteristics of what would become the temple in Jerusalem. As biblical theology makes clear, God is not bound to the temple or tabernacle, but God does promise to be present there.
AUTHOR: Fred Gaiser, Professor of Old Testament, David Stewart, Director of Library Services.