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Theogony / Works and Days Paperback – October 2, 2012

by Hesiod (Author), Christopher S. Morrissey (Translator), Roger Scruton (Foreword),

3.7 14 ratings

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C.S. Morrissey’s brilliant translations bring a modern, lyrical sensibility to Theogony and Works and Days, Hesiod’s two great poems that paved the way for subsequent achievements in Greek philosophy. Theogony tells of the first generations of the gods and recollects how Zeus established his cosmic reign of justice. Works and Days examines the two-fold role of competition in life, what Hesiod calls “the bad strife” and “the good strife” and how they affect our struggle to maintain order in the wake of chaos and the primeval void.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Morrissey has brought fire and light to Hesiod's work, and offered it to us with clarity and good humour, in the darkening air of our time."
― Vallum: Contemporary Poetry (issue 10:1): 85–87.

“C.S. Morrissey places a very modern sensibility under the light of these precious verses, and his translations remind us at every point that Hesiod’s gods are still with us, not as subjects to be worshipped and appeased through sacrifice, but as enduring motives that govern and disrupt our lives.”
– Roger Scruton, from the foreword

“We may look back to Hesiod’s poetry as representative of a cultural Golden Age when it was possible for a single work of literature to encompass the whole of traditional ‘wisdom’: high and low, ancient and modern, philosophical and poetic, practical and metaphysical.”
– New Republic

“Morrissey’s version … has a gnomic quality, and we do feel as if we are glimpsing the art of an ancient poet. … At the same time, the book does not discount the possibility of being used for academic purposes … this translation works effectively as a source for the myths which is uncommonly mindful of historical circumstances surrounding its composition, which we are at times in danger of forgetting. … Morrissey’s diligent style and innovative framing devices provide a new and helpful context to read and re-read some of the great founding narratives of classical literature.”
– Glasgow Review of Books

About the Author

C.S. Morrissey is a professor of philosophy at Trinity Western University, where he also teaches courses in the Latin language and in Greek and Roman history. He studied Greek and Latin at the University of British Columbia and has taught courses in these languages and in other classical subjects at Simon Fraser University. Morrissey specializes in philosophical theology and his recent focus has been on its genesis in the monotheistic speculations of Hesiod and Plato. He has also published on the mediaeval Latin philosophy of Thomas Aquinas and his commentatorial tradition, which includes John Poinsot, a.k.a. John of St. Thomas, from whom we may trace a foundational doctrine of signs for the interdisciplinary field of semiotics. Morrissey’s current research explores how Eric Voegelin’s philosophical studies of the historical processes of symbolization complement the pioneering interdisciplinary work by semiotician and linguist Thomas Albert Sebeok.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0889227004
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Talonbooks (October 2, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780889227002
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0889227002
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1280L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.44 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,943,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #902 in Translation Reference
- #1,775 in Ancient & Classical Poetry
- #1,885 in Epic Poetry (Books)

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3.7 14 ratings

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Dr. Liana Cheney

classic good text

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2019

nothing

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2017

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The translator disingenuously invokes a supposed need to spare us the "drudgery of footnotes" — which perhaps suggests he was simply too unmotivated to supply them, but in any case meaning this is not a serious translation, one worthy of Hesiod's great works.

Roger Scruton's contribution amounts to two paragraphs — and ones scarcely worth reading.

The word "hubris" does not occur once in the book — despite this being the central ethical concern and unifying concept of the Theogony and Works and Days.

For a metrical and truly artistic translation, one more likely to delight and edify, try Thomas Cooke's Works of Hesiod (1743; reprinted with modern spelling in 1822).

And for a technical translation, there's Most (2006), which not only supplies generous explanatory notes and informative essays, but contains the Greek text as well.

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Ioannis Liontakis

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2016

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Excelent translation.

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

Excellent interpretation.

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C.S. Morrissey

The Potential to Stir the Divine Spirit

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2013

The Enduring Spirit of Hesiod’s Poetry
a book review by Rebecca LeMoine [originally published in Voegelin View]

Hesiod. Hesiod: Theogony; Works and Days. Translated by C.S. Morrissey. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2012. 144 pp. Softcover. Kindle.

Speaking of the need to read an author in his original language, Eric Voegelin once observed that “a good number of persons who are employed by our colleges . . . talk about Plato and Aristotle, or Thomas and Augustine, or Dante and Cervantes, or Rabelais or Goethe, without being able to read a line of the authors on whom they pontificate” (Autobiographical Reflections, in The Collected Works of Eric Voegelin, Vol. 34, pp. 67).

Voegelin reminds us of a simple fact: translations necessarily permit only mediated encounters with an author. A translation is, in essence, as much a work of art as the text on which the translator labors.

Consequently, one must take care not to lose sight of the translator’s artistic hand in rendering the work accessible to audiences unfamiliar with the author’s original language.

In C.S. Morrissey’s new translation of Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, the translator exercises considerable influence over Hesiod’s words. Yet one senses that this is just as the translator intended, i.e. that we are invited to interpret Morrissey as much as Hesiod. As such, the translation is not recommended for scholars seeking a more literal translation of Hesiod’s words.

Those looking to enjoy Hesiod’s poetic gifts and to gain a sense of what ancient audiences may have experienced as they heard the poet deliver his finely crafted words will, however, find much to appreciate about this translation.

Featuring a foreword by Roger Scruton and an afterword excerpted from Voegelin’s Order and History, Morrissey’s translation of these two seminal works in Hesiod’s corpus grew out of conversations with students in his “Introduction to Classical Mythology” course.

Excited by the fresh insights he discovered once he started working through his own translations of the ancient Greek, Morrissey decided to craft a translation that would “present Hesiod’s poetry as engaging storytelling, unmediated by distracting footnotes and scholarly nitpicking” (xv). Accordingly, in place of cumbersome footnotes, one finds brief explanatory information included directly in the translation that Hesiod’s audience would likely have known, particularly regarding Greek mythology.

Where Morrissey departs from existing translations, he gives no indications or justifications, so as to amplify “the ease and pleasure” of the reader (xv).

Other notable features of the translation include Morrissey’s own chapter divisions, titles, and subheadings, the use of italics to indicate the appearance of a significant divinity or individual’s name, and the translation of thumos as “competitive spirit,” a choice that allows the reader to see more clearly the prevalence of this theme throughout what some interpreters regard as two fundamentally disparate works.

Furthermore, in select places throughout the translation, Morrissey uses anachronistic words such as “laxatives” and “toilet paper” on the grounds that “on extraordinary and important occasions a translator simply must translate what he thinks the poet means and not what he says” (xvi-xvii). Again, Morrissey aims to convey the inspired nature of Hesiod’s poetry by adding a modern lyrical sensibility to the storytelling, thereby providing a more joyful and wondrous reading experience.

The Potential to Stir the Divine Spirit

There is much to praise about Morrissey’s translation.

His translation of the Theogony in particular captures many of the hauntingly beautiful images familiar to readers of the original. One almost feels present at the Battle of the Titans, so crisp and vibrant are the words Morrissey uses to translate this scene. Likewise, one can see, hear, and feel the battle between Zeus and the monster Typhoeus.

In Works and Days, Morrissey succeeds in capturing Hesiod’s exhortative tone towards his brother Perses, while at the same time bringing to life in the reader’s imagination the experiences of a simple man living in ancient times.

For those with knowledge of ancient Greek, the parenthetical inclusion of the Greek at various points throughout the translation provides a welcomed link with the original language. If anything, one might have wished for more inclusions of the Greek–especially to mark instances of the word thumos–though admittedly this might have undermined Morrissey’s mission to provide a more pleasurable reading experience.

As is, the translation is rarely ugly or unwieldy, and the chapter divisions, titles, and sub-headings lend both works a poetic quality that is at once helpful and illuminating. With Morrissey’s translation, one can simply enjoy Hesiod’s poetry. Though at times the reader might miss the added insights of footnotes, the bare presentation of the text allows for a more liberating reading experience.

Read aloud, the translation even offers a potentially more authentic encounter with Hesiod’s poetic voice. For the experience itself, scholars ought to read this translation as a supplement to a more literal translation. Simply put, this translation possesses the potential to stir the divine spirit flowing within oneself–praise few translations merit.

Excusing Liberties for the Sake of Language

The modern, lyrical beauty of Morrissey’s translation comes, however, at the expense of other qualities one might seek. Namely, despite Morrissey’s claim to have remained rooted in the original Greek and preserved the integrity of the line breaks in the original manuscript, it must be noted that he exercises considerable liberties with the text.

First of all, the last hundred lines or so of the Theogony have been cut, without any acknowledgement. One wonders what kind of story Morrissey is trying to tell by ending with Zeus’ swallowing of the goddess Métis so that she could not give birth to a son who might overthrow him.

Moreover, the strange rendering of ἑὴν ἐσκάτθετο νηδὺν as “he invited Métis to flow as one inside” rather than the more traditional translation of “he put her in his own belly” not only makes it more difficult for a first-time reader to understand what is happening, but also suggests Morrissey’s own interpretive lens may be intruding upon the translation.

Though some might not appreciate the translator’s lack of fidelity to the original manuscript here and elsewhere, others might excuse the liberties he has taken as they often do help to capture in English the lyrical quality of Hesiod’s verses.

Sometimes Misplacing the Original Sense

This is true as well of the explanatory information that Morrissey includes, and his adoption of modern terminology. While more often than not the additions are fluid and assist the reader’s understanding, at times they threaten to alter the text’s meaning in the minds of unsuspecting readers.

For example, in the account of Pandora in Works and Days, Morrissey adds to the mere mention of her name in the original Greek the phrase “the ‘Gift’ for Whom ‘Anything Goes’” and, later, “the ‘Gift’ into Whom ‘Anything Goes’” and “the ‘Gift’ with Whom ‘Anything Goes’” (lines 80, 82, 94). In cases like this, where Morrissey’s additions seem less like harmless bits of information designed to help readers enter the mindset of Hesiod’s ancient audience, and more like glimpses into Morrissey’s own mindset, one worries about unaware readers mistaking Morrissey’s words for Hesiod’s.

Similarly, the adoption of modern words and idioms into the translation sometimes transforms the meaning of an important phrase. For instance, in Works and Days, Hesiod rebukes his brother for taking more than his share of their inheritance, and disparages the judges his brother bribed for not knowing that the half is greater than the whole (πλέον ἥμισυ παντὸς), an expression Morrissey translates as “One plus one is two!” (line 39). While this phrase may be more common in modern speech, it could imply the idea of a self-evident truth rather than–as the context suggests–the notion that sometimes less is more.

Voegelin as the Afterward

In spite of these criticisms, Morrissey’s translation contributes a welcome representation of two of Hesiod’s central works in a poetic style that modern readers will find appealing. Moreover, the afterword containing an excerpt from Voegelin’s chapter on Hesiod in Volume II of Order and History introduces readers to an important vision of Hesiod’s poetry.

A word from Morrissey on why he finds this essay meaningful and how it might have guided his efforts as a translator would have been welcomed. This is especially true given that Voegelin augments his analysis of Hesiod’s poetic truth in the much later, posthumously published Volume V of Order and History.

In particular, in this later essay, Voegelin speaks with greater precision of the poet’s role; Hesiod is not simply battling the disorder surrounding him, but seeking to differentiate the tension we all experience between the divine and its material presence. As the earlier essay is worthy of inclusion in itself, Morrissey should not be faulted for not including or referencing the later essay. Those familiar with Voegelin’s works might, however, find their curiosity aroused by Morrissey’s decision to include this excerpt rather than, or in addition to, one from the essay in Volume V.

With any translation, the translator faces a trade-off between accuracy and readability. Morrissey demonstrates that the willingness to sacrifice strict adherence to the text can bring the benefit of a more lyrically pleasing translation. In the case of Hesiod’s spiritually rich poetry, this is a worthy aim that Morrissey carries off with considerable success.

[Rebecca LeMoine is a Ph.D. candidate specializing in political theory in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on the relationship between ancient Greek literature and politics, particularly with regard to issues of cultural diversity. She is currently working on the first full-length examination of the treatment of foreigners in Plato’s dialogues.]

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Eric

Incomplete translation

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2022

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This translation ends at line 900 of Hesiod's poem Theogony. The poem should have roughly another 120-130 lines depending on the translation. Specifically, Zeus' activities in power, his marriages, and a listing of the goddesses and their offspring with humans are completely left out. I'd recommend buying a different version that contains the complete version of Theogony.

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