Brumbaugh, Ancient Greek Gadgets and Machines (1966); Harris (1973) 177–233; S. West, “Cultural
Exchange over a Water-Clock,” CQ 23 (1973) 61–64; DSB 6 (1975) 316–319, J. Longrigg; H. von
Staden, “Experiment and Experience in Hellenistic Medicine,” BICS 22 (1975) 178–199; John
Scarborough, “Celsus on Human Vivisection at Ptolemaic Alexandria,” CM 11 (1976) 25–38; P.
Potter, “Herophilus of Chalcedon: An Assessment of his Place in the History of Medicine,” BHM
50 (1976) 45–60; Longrigg (1993) 177–219; von Staden (1999); V. Nutton, “Alexandria, Anatomy
and Experimentation” in Ancient Medicine (2004) 128–139.
John ScarboroughHe ̄siod of Askra (ca 750 – 650 BCE)
Linked with H as a composer of early epic. In Theogony he names himself as “He ̄siod”
(He ̄siodos) and describes his visitation by the Muses while pasturing his sheep on Mount
Helikon (22–34). The Muses help the poet sing the genealogy of the gods, especially
Zeus’ birth and his consolidation of power over gods and humans. He ̄siod addresses
Works and Days to his brother, Perse ̄s, who allegedly cheated He ̄siod of his share of their
father’s inheritance (37–41). Now destitute, Perse ̄s pursues a legal dispute with He ̄siod and
receives guidance about the need for justice and hard work. Works and Days also relates that
He ̄siod’s father hoped for prosperity as a professional sea trader. However, poverty com-
pelled him to leave Aiolian Kume ̄ and to settle in Askra in Boio ̄tia where he resigned
himself to the difficult but more reliable occupation of farming (633–640). Unlike his father,
He ̄siod took only one sea voyage from Aulis to Khalkis, where he won a poetic competition
at the funeral games of Amphidamas (654–662). Ancient testimony and modern archaeo-
logical evidence have placed Amphidamas’ funeral and He ̄siod’s victory in 730– 700 BCE.
He ̄siod’s claim of poetic victory in Works and Days may also be the source of the Certamen
Homeri et Hesiodi.
Homer and He ̄siod drew from a common tradition of Ionian hexameter poetry. How-
ever, He ̄siod’s poems differ in content and perhaps incorporated separate traditions, such as
Near-Eastern succession myths and didactic “wisdom” texts. Theogony and Works and Days
are regarded as genuine compositions of He ̄siod. Theogony begins with a hymn to the Muses
(1–104) and explains the origin of the physical world. It details the relationship of Zeus and
the Olympian gods to the earlier Titan gods and other primordial divinities and describes
Zeus’ birth and ascent to power, establishing the nature of his rule over gods and mortals
as one based upon justice and mutual alliances. Works and Days recounts the world’s decline
and the reason why mortals now must endure painful labor for survival. It stresses the
importance of just and independent work in accordance with Zeus’ designs. He ̄siod’s poems
influenced the Pre-Socratics.
Works and Days reprimands Perse ̄s for his idleness and dishonesty in bribing “gift-
devouring” kings to ratify his theft of He ̄siod’s property. Perse ̄s must abandon bad strife and
adhere to good strife, which promotes just and honest work, productive envy of others’
successes, and healthy competition (11– 26 “corrects” Theogony 225 and marks Works and Days
as the later poem). He ̄siod’s moral instruction incorporates myths (Prome ̄theus’ crimes
and Pando ̄ra’s creation establish the need for work among mortals, 42–105; the Myth of
Ages charts the world’s decline to the present Iron Age, 106–201); fable (the story of the
hawk and nightingale elevates humans above animals by the presence of justice, 202–212);
injunctions (warning Perse ̄s and the “kings” about dike ̄ and hubris, 213–285); and allegory
(on the importance of hard work, 286–334). There are additional injunctions about respect
for the gods, honesty, friendship, and reciprocity (335–382). He ̄siod’s advice on farming (the
HE ̄SIOD OF ASKRA