poem’s “Wo rk s”) is addressed to Perse ̄s and the peasant farmers of Boio ̄tia. The poet
instructs them on fall woodcutting and plowing (383–492); winter protection from cold
(493–563); and spring vine-pruning, harvest, threshing, and summer drinking and relax-
ation (564–617). He ̄siod emphasizes timeliness and perception in his agricultural calendar,
incorporating many elements of the natural world: stars (Sirius, Pleiades, Orion, Arcturus),
winds (Boreas, Notus, Zephyr), heat, cold, rain, drought, birds (crane, cuckoo, swallow,
crow), insects (cicada), oxen, crops, and fields. Sailing is a dangerous and risky occupation
which the farmer should pursue only in summer after amassing a surplus of livelihood
(618–694). The poem ends with a list of auspicious and inauspicious “Days” (765–828)
for given tasks. He ̄siod’s Works and Days is unique in its focus upon the ordinary Boio ̄tian
farmer, whose agricultural toil, while necessary for survival, enables him to gain a special
understanding of Zeus’ justice and to find his path toward wealth and economic self-
sufficiency. Recent scholarship focusing upon the unity and artistry of Works and Days has
been fruitful.
Ed.: M.L. West, Theogony (1966); Idem, Works and Days (1978); Gr. Arrighetti, Esiodo: Opere (Turin 1998).
G.P. Edwards, The Language of Hesiod (1971); W.J. Verdenius, A Commentary on Hesiod Works and Days
vv. 1– 382 (1985); R. Lamberton, Hesiod (1988); R. Hamilton, The Architecture of Hesiodic Poetry (1989);
R.M. Rosen, “Poetry and sailing in Hesiod’s Works and Days,” ClAnt 9 (1990) 99–113; J.C.B.
Petropoulos, Heat and Lust (1994); OCD3 700, M.L. West; ECP 267 – 269, R. Lamberton; REP
4.412–413, G.W. Most; S. Nelson, God and the Land (1998); Maria Marsilio, Farming and Poetry in
Hesiod’s Works and Days (2000); E.F. Beall, “The Plow that Broke the Plain Epic Tradition: Hesiod
Works and Days, vv. 414–503,” ClAnt 23.1 (2004) 1–32; J.S. Clay, Hesiod’s Cosmos (2003); A.T. Edwards,
Hesiod’s Ascra (2004); BNP 6 (2005) 279–284, Gr. Arrighetti; E.F. Beall, “An Artistic and Optimistic
Passage in Hesiod: Works and Days 564 – 614,” TA PA 135 (2005) 231–247.
Maria Marsilio
Hestiaios of Perinthos (365 – 325 BCE)
Student of P, according to D L (3.46) and P. I
S calls him a physicist, and gives his view on the basis (ousia) of time (A
1.22.3), viz. the movement of heavenly bodies relative to one another. Stobaios 4.13.5 also
reports Hestiaios’ view on the mechanism of sight. Here he opted for an explanation appar-
ently indebted to E, combining the Pre-Socratic idea of representations (eido ̄la)
emanating from objects (4.13.1) with the Academic idea of light-rays (aktines) stemming
from the eye, and reverting to it (4.13.3). He spoke of ray-representation (aktineido ̄la).
The significance of his innovations is unclear. T (Metaphysics 13) speaks as if
Hestiaios went some way towards generating the wider universe from mathematical prin-
ciples, a project of X.
BNP 6 (2005) 287, K.-H. Stanzel.
Harold Tarrant
He ̄sukhios of Damaskos (ca 410 – 470 CE)
Physician, father of I P (Souda I-12), traveled widely to Rhodes, and
Argive Drepanon where he married Iako ̄bos’ mother, then leaving his family, he spent
19 years in Alexandria and Italy, his family thinking him dead. His son, joining him in
Constantinople, became his student (D, Vit. Isid. in Pho ̄tios, Bibl. 242, §120, and
HE ̄SUKHIOS OF DAMASKOS