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Theogony / Works and Days
Translated by C.S. Morrissey
By Hesiod
C. S. Morrissey’s brilliant translations bring a modern, lyrical sensibility to Theogony and Works and Days, Hesiod’s two great poems that paved the way for subsequent achievements in Greek philosophy. Theogony tells of the first generations of the gods and recollects how ... Read more
Overview
C. S. Morrissey’s brilliant translations bring a modern, lyrical sensibility to Theogony and Works and Days, Hesiod’s two great poems that paved the way for subsequent achievements in Greek philosophy. Theogony tells of the first generations of the gods and recollects how Zeus established his cosmic reign of justice. Works and Days examines the two-fold role of competition in life, what Hesiod calls “the bad strife” and “the good strife” and how they affect our struggle to maintain order in the wake of chaos and the primeval void.
Reviews
“Morrissey’s version … has a gnomic quality, and we do feel as if we are glimpsing the art of an ancient poet. … At the same time, the book does not discount the possibility of being used for academic purposes … this translation works effectively as a source for the myths which is uncommonly mindful of historical circumstances surrounding its composition, which we are at times in danger of forgetting. … Morrissey’s diligent style and innovative framing devices provide a new and helpful context to read and re-read some of the great founding narratives of classical literature. ”
– Glasgow Review of Books
Morrissey has brought fire and light to Hesiod's work, and offered it to us with clarity and good humour, in the darkening air of our time. "
— Vallum: Contemporary Poetry (issue 10:1): 85–87.
“C. S. Morrissey places a very modern sensibility under the light of these precious verses, and his translations remind us at every point that Hesiod’s gods are still with us, not as subjects to be worshipped and appeased through sacrifice, but as enduring motives that govern and disrupt our lives. ”
– Roger Scruton, from the foreword
“We may look back to Hesiod’s poetry as representative of a cultural Golden Age when it was possible for a single work of literature to encompass the whole of traditional ‘wisdom’: high and low, ancient and modern, philosophical and poetic, practical and metaphysical. ”
– New Republic
Reader Reviews
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- Dimensions 144 pages, 5 x 8.5 x 11 mm
- Published August 15, 2012
- Publisher Talonbooks
- Category Poetry
- Keywords Ancient , Classical & Medieval
Other titles by C.S. Morrissey
Other titles by Hesiod
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