Understanding the Theogony by Hesiod, introduction

How to understand the Theogony by Hesiod. The Theogony or Theogonia, meaning the genealogy or the birth of the gods, is attributed to Hesiod or Iseiodos, who after Homer is the most important poet of the ancient Greeks. He was a guide to all who seek to follow the teachings of Hellenism. The work is categorized as a didactic poem that describes the origin of the gods worshipped by the ancient Greeks. On the surface, the poem appears simply to focus on the genealogy of the gods. Its true aim, however, is to teach human beings how to overcome life's difficult struggles by finding within them the path to happiness, success, and glory. The fundamental way to approach Hesiod's Theogony is to acknowledge its mysticism. It is to see past the obvious and follow what is being alluded to beyond the details of the stories. The myths of the Theogony can be interpreted literally, as most of the ancient Greeks did, but these myths also lead the mind to search for answers to complex questions that have not been asked. For example, if Zeus brings about order in the universe, how could order have existed before him, since order was there with previous rulers of the divine realm? Is there an absolute order from whose essence Zeus obtains his order? Similarly, if Aphrodite brings about attraction in the universe, how could attraction have existed before her, since gods loved one another before her birth? Love is the cause of change, growth, transformation, and ambition throughout the poem, and it was there from the beginning. The mysteries that appear in the poem are topics later philosophers would try to explain, such as the pre-Socratics, who would try to answer the nature of this primordial essence of existence, or the Platonists with their concept of the One. The philosophers were inspired by these myths to seek out answers to the world's mysteries, by discussing first principles of logical causation and transformation. For Hesiod, the answers to the mysteries are the gods themselves. In this way, he laid the ground for what later would become theology. It is in the divine that all existence comes to be. Attraction exists because there must be divine love first. Love is not for Hesiod a fragment or an aspect of a force, such as attraction, but rather, attraction in its various degrees comes from a divine love, from which all other attractions originate. These answers come to the mind through the aid of the Muses, or Musei. They are goddesses of inspiration and revelation, and they are the foundation of all knowledge. Though it may appear that knowledge existed before them, it is only because we can't grasp how divine knowledge, of which the Muses are the representatives, always existed. In Hesiod's understanding, the Muses were always there, as everything already pre-existed in its origin of the universe, and with time, everything came to appear in its proper time and place. Because of love, fear, and anger, everything that was meant to be, changes and becomes what it is known by. Growth does not add in anything new that was not there before in some way. It only shapes it to fulfill its destiny. The Muses are key to understand the Theogony, because they will reveal knowledge that is impossible to discover by our limited experience. The Muses and their revelation are the way human beings can attain peace, purpose, and happiness, and overcome grief, despair, and sorrow. Another important part of Hesiod's worldview is that struggle is inescapable. It is so entrenched in life that everything must struggle, from the smallest creatures to the highest gods. The never-ending struggles can overwhelm conscious beings and drive them to despair and madness. The struggle exists because it comes from chaos or chaos, which is another important part of Hesiod's worldview. Everything, including the gods, comes from chaos. So everything has inherited chaos, and our interactions with objects, animals, and people will affect how suffering or happiness will spread. Hesiod's aim is to encourage the worship of the gods in everyday life, in times of happiness and sorrow. Happiness and sorrow are tied to worship of the gods. Without it, the chaos of existence will make loss and hardship unbearable, and we will be defeated by our struggles. Another important part of Hesiod's worldview is that through order, chaos and struggles are brought low, and this order is brought about by the gods, especially Zeus, who has overcome the previous generation of divine beings that were contaminated by despair and madness. The order established by Zeus is sacred and must be respected. Leadership and authority then become sacred because they preserve order. The way then to reach the conquest of struggles is to mirror Zeus and the gods, and the best way to do this is by thinking of them and recalling their qualities. Lastly, one important theme in Hesiod's Theogony is that everything runs through cycles, from chaos to beauty, from beauty to chaos. These cycles are initiated by simple actions. One act of love or hate can begin the sequence that will bring ruin or glory. We should choose then actions that are virtuous so that our situation of suffering and grief may change, and we may experience happiness, success, and glory. Now we will see the themes of the poem divided into segments as we look at each collection of verses and how they describe separate beings that could influence and affect us.