Together the poetry of Hesiod & Theognis" offers a superb introduction to the life & thought of ancient Greece. Hesiods " Theogoney" (c. 725 BCE) is a powerful creation myth: an epic bloody tale of dark forces sex & violence tracing the history of the world from primeval Chaos to the establishment of Zeus as supreme king of the gods. In contrast Hesiods " Works & Days" written to advise his indolent brother Perseus is an intriguing sophisticated combination of ethical maxims social & political comment & superstitious law. Elegiac rather than epic the works of Theognis
- written some two centuries after Hesiod
- include theological speculations love lyrics & moral advice for his protege Kurnos reflecting the moods & themes of an aristocratic poet who mourned a changing Greek society."