Works and Days

Works and Days is Hesiod’s ancient Greek didactic poem about justice, labour, and the ordering of everyday life. Addressing his brother Perses, the speaker argues for honest work and warns against gaining advantage through injustice. Accounts of Prometheus, Pandora, and the successive ages of humanity place these concerns within a wider understanding of the human condition. Practical instructions about farming and seafaring give moral reflection a material setting. The poem connects a household’s well-being with attention to the seasons, respect for obligations, and the difference between productive effort and destructive rivalry.