A review by hramona
Hesiod and Theognis: Theogony, Works and Days, and Elegies by Theognis, Hesiod

medium-paced

3.75

Hesiod; I can understand why the authorship of Theogny and Works and Days is so contested. The prior feels so utterly different to the later, and maybe he was just inexperienced but I’m not sure. In Theogny Hesiod writes as though Zeus is utterly infallible, never wrong, never tricked (which we all know is nonsense), yet in Works and Days he writes of how Zeus is tricked so??
The Theogny felt as though a close relative was telling you a really wild story but instead of telling you the really fucking good bits, tells you about all the people involved, and all of their families members and how the person they robbed a bank with ‘s second cousins aunties grandma twice removed was called Janet. 
The Works and Days is truly fascinating. The advice he is giving is astoundingly accurate to the day of doing things (harvesting, ploughing, setting sail) which seems bonkers and amazing. And at least in this, his hatred of women is less aggressive and much more amusing (yeah I WILL shake my ass at a man to get his barn Hesiod and it’ll fucking work too). 
And then Theognis. Oh, Theognis. You’re a very paranoid, self-conscious, petulant little man child. There’s some cracking bits of wisdom and some truly beautifully poetic lines in the Elegies that you just can’t shake the mastery of, but considering he spends the majority of the time talking about poor him his friends are such bastards (probably told him they were washing their hair and later he saw them partying), and how money is immaterial and doesn’t matter BUT HIS GOT TAKEN AWAY ITS SO UNFAIR!!!! and also, wine? Like a LOT about wine. I think he might have just been a very paranoid, self indulgent, and lonely man. My advice: stop being a dick to Kurnos, you’re pretty hard to be around as is, give him a break dude.