Playing Hesiod: The 'Myth of the Races' in Classical Antiquity

362 Pages·2014·2.04 MB·English

by  Helen Van Noorden

PLAYING HESIOD
ThisbookoffersanewdescriptionofthesignificanceofHesiod’s‘mythofthe
races’ for ancient Greek and Roman authors, showing how the most detailed
responsestothisstorygofarbeyondnostalgiaforalost‘Golden’ageorhopeofits
return.Throughaseriesofclosereadings,itarguesthatkeyauthorsfromPlatoto
Juvenalrewritethestorytoreconstruct‘Hesiod’morebroadlyaspredecessorin
formingtheirownintellectualandrhetoricalprojects;disciplinessuchasphilos-
ophy,didacticpoetryandsatireallengageinimplicitquestionsabout‘Hesiodic’
teaching. The first chapter introduces key issues; the second re-evaluates the
account in Hesiod’s Works and Days. A major chapter outlines Plato’s use of
Hesiod through close study of the Protagoras, Republic and Statesman.
SubsequentchaptersfocusonAratus’PhaenomenaandOvid’sMetamorphoses;
thefinalchapter,ontheOctaviaattributedtoSenecaandJuvenal’ssixthSatire,
broadensideasofHesiod’sreceptioninRome.
HELEN VAN NOORDEN istheWrigleyFellowandLecturerinClassicsatGirton
College,Cambridge.
cambridge classical studies
GeneralEditors
r.l. hunter, r.g. osborne, m. millett, d.n. sedley,
g.c. horrocks, s.p. oakley, w.m. beard
PLAYING HESIOD
The‘MythoftheRaces’inClassicalAntiquity
HELEN VAN NOORDEN
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PlayingHesiod:the‘mythoftheraces’inclassicalantiquity/HelenVanNoorden.
pages cm.–(Cambridgeclassicalstudies)
isbn978-0-521-76081-2
1. Hesiod–Criticismandinterpretation. 2. Hesiod–Influence.
3. Mythology,Greek,inliterature. 4. Mythology,Roman,inliterature.
i. Title.
pa4011.n66 2015
8810.01–dc23
2014021249
isbn978-0-521-76081-2Hardback
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements pagevii
Texts,translationsandabbreviations ix
1 ApproachingHesiod 1
1.1 Theargumentofthisbook:an‘alternativeaccount’ 1
1.2 Identifyinga‘Hesiodic’project 5
1.3 Agesandstages,heroesandchronologies 23
1.4 ReadingtheracesinHesiod,andHesiodintheraces 39
2 EmbeddingtheracesinHesiod 43
2.1 Introduction 43
2.2 TheWorksandDays:‘“argument”isperhapstoogrand
aword’? 44
2.3 Theimportanceofthe‘mythoftheraces’ 65
2.4 Framingtheraces 68
2.5 Structuresinthe‘mythoftheraces’ 72
2.6 Emphasesinthenarrativeoftheraces 75
2.7 Theemergenceof‘Hesiod’ 82
2.8 Conclusion 88
3 ‘Hesiod’sracesandyourown’:Plato’s‘Hesiodic’
projects 89
3.1 Introduction:challengingtheunimportanceofHesiod 89
3.2 Didactic(re)constructions:theProtagoras 99
3.3 Socrates’‘Hesiodic’project:theRepublic 106
3.4 Furtherexperiments:theStatesman 142
3.5 Conclusion:transformingHesiodicpedagogy 160
4 ‘TheycalledherJustice...’:readingHesiodinAratus’
Phaenomena 168
4.1 Introduction:approachingthePhaenomena 168
4.2 TheMaidenandthePhaenomena 174
4.3 HesiodinthePhaenomena 192
4.4 Conclusion:didacticramifications 199
v
Contents
5 HesiodadmeatemporainOvid’sMetamorphoses 204
5.1 Introduction:backgrounds 204
5.2 Periodization 216
5.3 Alternativeaccounts 235
5.4 Conclusion:Ovid’s‘Hesiod’ 254
6 Saeculopremimurgraui:re-performing‘Hesiod’
inRome 261
6.1 Prologue:Ovid’sPythagorasandthedegeneration
ofdidactic 261
6.2 DidactichazardA:thepupilintheOctavia 268
6.3 DidactichazardB:thespeakerinJuvenalSatire6 283
6.4 Conclusion 303
Conclusion Playing‘Hesiod’ 305
Workscited 309
Indexlocorum 339
Generalindex 344
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ThisbookisarevisedversionofmyCambridgedoctoralthesis,for
which I was exceptionally lucky to be supervised by Richard
Hunter. I never left our meetings without feeling encouraged. His
extraordinaryknowledgeandefficiencyinreadingarewellknown,
but he has also displayed remarkable patience and all-round sup-
port for several years. John Henderson, too, is owed great thanks
forputtingthequestionsinafriendlywaysincemyundergraduate
daysandforgivingsomuchofhistimetoreadinchoatechapters.
Nick Denyer supervised the MPhil essay which gave me confi-
dencetobroadenmyworkonPlato;MalcolmSchofieldwaswill-
ingtoreadanddiscussmythoughts,andtosharesomeofhiswork
prior to publication. Glenn Most and my thesis examiner Philip
Hardie have been similarly generous in sending me unpublished
material.Iamalsogratefulforthefeedbackofmyotherexaminer
Robert Fowler, and David Sedley as first reader for Cambridge
University Press. Here at the other end of the process, I warmly
thank Michael Sharp, Elizabeth Hanlon and Rachel Cox at
Cambridge University Press for their patience and professional
care,andcopy-editorCarolineHowlettforhersharpeye.
While reworking the thesis chapters into a book, I have had a
number of generous, constructively critical readers and corre-
spondents; I should like to thank in particular Jenny Bryan,
Emma Buckley, Marco Fantuzzi, Ingo Gildenhard, Hugo Koning
andChristopherRowe.Duringthegenesisofthethesisandsince,
mycontemporariesintheCambridgeClassicsgraduatecommunity
have been a source of companionship, advice and stimulating
discussion. I cannot put into words what I owe to the inspiration
ofFacultyseminarsandreadinggroupsbothofficialandunofficial,
to the staff of the Cambridge Faculty library, and to friendships
madeintheenrichingenvironmentsofthreeCambridgeColleges.
GenerousfundingforthedoctoralresearchcamefromtheArtsand
vii
Acknowledgements
Humanities Research Council and the Newton Trust; supplemen-
taryawardsfromtheFacultyofClassicsandTrinityCollege,where
Ispentallmystudentyears,enabledmetotakelanguagecourses,
attend conferences, and study at the Fondation Hardt. Having
benefited greatly from two years as a Junior Research Fellow at
Clare College, I have thoroughly enjoyed becoming a member of
theteachingandresearchcommunityatGirtonCollege.
Various audiences at Cambridge, two Classical Association
conferences and wonderful specialist conferences in Durham and
Groningen aided me greatly with their comments on earlier
versions of parts of this book. Sections of Chapters 3 and 4
have appeared in edited volumes: the central section of Chapter3
expandsmycontributiontoG.Boys-StonesandJ.Haubold(eds.)
(2010) Plato and Hesiod (Oxford), and I gratefully acknowledge
permission from Peeters to reuse in Chapter 4 much of my piece
‘Aratus’ Maiden and the source of belief’, in M. A. Harder,
R. F. Regtuit and G. C. Wakker (eds.) (2009) Nature and Science
inHellenisticPoetry(Leuven).
It is a particular regret that Ilearned of LilahGrace Canevaro’s
monograph on Hesiod’s Works and Days (in press) only after
submitting my own revised typescript to Cambridge University
Press in April 2014. I hope nevertheless that our books can be
usedproductivelyintandem.
MybrotherRichardhasbeenthereformewheneverneeded,as
hasChristosTsirogiannis,whokeepsmeexcitedaboutthefuture.
Thisbookisdedicatedtomymotherandthememoryofmyfather,
ingratitudefortheirhighstandardsandunfailingsupport.
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