Hesiod and Aeschylus PDF
Preview Hesiod and Aeschylus
CORNELL STUDIES IN CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY EDITED BY HARRY CAPLAN JAMES HUTTON * FRIEDRICH SOLMSEN VOLUME XXX Hcsiod and Aeschylus By FRIEDRICH SOLMSEN Hesiod and Aeschylus By FRIEDRICH SOLMSEN Professor of the Classics in Cornell University Cornell Press University ITHACA, NEW YORK: 1949 COPYRIGHT 1949 CORNELL UNIVERSITY CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON: GEOFFREY CUMBERLEGE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS niNTBD IM THB UNITBD RATH O> AMZKICA UX THE WAVBRLY PUSS, IMC, BALT1M0KB, MASTLAMD TO HARRY CAPLAN AND JAMES HUTTON Preface book consists of two parts the connection between which '"["'HIS JL is less superficial than may appear at first glance. When I had come to the conclusion that Aeschylus' debt to Hesiod goes deeper than is commonly assumed, it became necessary to unravel the complex fabric of the Theogony with the view of distinguishing therein between the results of Hesiod's own speculations and the masses of traditional myths and beliefs which the poem also incorporates. Only when we know where we find Hesiod himself can we decide whether Aeschylus' imagination was stirred by Hesiod's own conceptions or whether he responded to something that happened to be recorded in the Theogony. The method of both parts of the book is analytical; both aim at detach- ing personal 'form' from traditional 'matter.' I have done my best to see whatever books or articles bearing on my subject have appeared in Europe during the last ten years, and I am glad not to have missed certain important contributions that became available to me in the last few weeks before the final draft of the manu- script went to the press. I know, however, that there is much, especially in the field of Homeric studies, that I have not been able to consider. It would have been tempting to write more about Hesiod's influence on later poets and thinkers and to give somewhat more substance to the developments that are sketched - and indeed barely sketched - in the Introduction to Part II. This, however, is a large subject which cannot be treated by the way. Moreover, it is pleasant to see that after long neglect the subject is now receiving a good deal of attention; not only have I been able to refer to a number of very recent studies but I also know that other books that may appear shortly before or after mine will throw a welcome light upon these matters. The book owes much to the never-failing interest, the kind help, and the wise counsel of my friends. To associate their names with a work including many adventurous hypotheses, disputable points, and prob- ably also errors of judgment that they themselves would never have committed, is, I fear, a dubious way of thanking them for all that they have done for me in the course of many years. vii viii PREFACE Dr. Abbie M. Copps of Olivet College, to whom I have expressed thanks on an earlier occasion, has again endeavored to make the book more readable. The typewritten copy has been prepared with admirable care by Mrs. John H. Detmold. The editorial staff of Cornell University Press, in particular Miss Catherine Sturtevant and Miss Jeannette Frasier, have struggled patiently with my inaccuracies and incon- sistencies. For a research grant, to meet the cost of preparing the manuscript, I am indebted to Dean G. Watts Cunningham of the Graduate School and to the Trustee-Faculty Committee on Research of Cornell Uni- versity. My wife, Lieselotte Solmsen, has helped me greatly both with her encouragement and with her criticism. Friedrich Solmsen Ithaca, New York February 28, 1948 Contents PART ONE: HESIOD chapter i. The Theogony 3 Introduction, p. 3. The Origin of the World : Three Generations of Gods, p. 5. Powers of Good and of Evil in the World of Hesiod, p. 27. The Role of Zeus in the Theogony, p. 47. Cosmology and Theogony, p. 58. The Synthesis of Old and New Figures, Earlier and Later Generations, p. 66. chapter . The Works and Days 76 PART TWO: SOLON AND AESCHYLUS Introduction 103 chapter i. Solon 107 chapter ii. Aeschylus: The Prometheia 124 Zeus and Prometheus, p. 124. The Crisis of the Olympian Dy- nasty, p. 157. chapter . Aeschylus: The Eumenides 178 Index 225 ix PART ONE HESIOD
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