Kathryn Ryan The Role of Appearance, Reality, and Exchange in the Work of Hesiod

The work of Hesiod is compelling as well as highly influential in its lessons. His piece Theogony, as well as Works and Days, explores the theme of appearance as opposed to reality. While the exterior may seem appealing, it may be concealing the undesirable, and vice versa. Furthermore, these works give explanations of many aspects of life in Hesiods time, sacrificial ritual and labor among them. Various exchanges between the Gods and man are seen in these texts as well, allowing the reader to unveil the true nature of such exchange. Not only do these texts promote hesitancy, awareness, and hard work through their messages, they also encourage the idea that the Gods are all-powerful and not to be disrespected. Hesiods Theogony recounts an act of deceit between the God Zeus and Prometheus. Prometheus desired to outwit Zeus, and thus he attempted to mislead him by carving an ox and presenting it to Zeus in a deceptive fashion. For him he laid out meat and entrails rich with fat in the hide, covering it in the oxs stomach, Hesiod writes, while for men he laid out the oxs white bones, which he arranged carefully for a cunning trick by covering them in glistening fat. With this trickery, Prometheus wished for the offering to Zeus to appear to be of lesser value than that for man. By hiding the desirable meat of the ox within the stomach, and lying fat across nothing but bones, the offering of bones would appear to be the more desirable. However, it is what was on the interior, as opposed to the exterior, that was significant in this case. Thus when Prometheus told Zeus to choose the portion that he found most desirable, Zeus boded evil in his heart for mortal men. The God Zeus had seen through Prometheuss act, and yet he chose the bones laden with white fat: bones cunningly decorated to beguile Zeus. It was due to this cunning trick that the peoples on earth have burned white bones for the immortals on aromatic

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altars. (Theogony, 19) Because Prometheus had foolishly tried to outwit the immortal Zeus with white bones, mortals must forever eat the meat of the sacrificial animal and burn the inedible parts as a sign of respect to the Gods (Introduction, xii). This is one exchange between the Gods and man, and is shown to be one of trickery and deceit. Such exchanges are common in both Theogony and Works and Days, thus giving an insight into the true nature of gift giving between mortals and the immortals. Furthermore, the use of appearance as opposed to reality in this piece emphasizes the theme that a desirable exterior may house a disagreeable interior, and reciprocally. As a result of Prometheuss cunning, Zeus, angered with the trickery, would not give to the ash-trees the power of untiring fire for mortal men who live on earth. (Theogony, 20) This is yet another exchange between man and Gods, yet in this particular situation Zeus is taking back something he had once supplied: fire, thus hindering man from cooking their meat (Introduction, xii). But despite the fact that Zeus had taken fire from man as a punishment for Prometheuss actions, Prometheus disrespected him once again. For the noble son of Iapetos outwitted [Zeus] by stealing the far-beaconing flare of untiring fire in the tube of a fennel. (Theogony, 20) Yet another example of interior as opposed to exterior is available here, as the fire, an object of desire, had been concealed within a reed, something that may not be thought of as an object of such significance. Therefore, such an example describes the desirable hidden within an undesirable exterior. And so again Zeus was angered with mankind, and yet another devious exchange was put into action. At once he made an affliction for mankind to set against the fire the pretty bane to set against a blessing (Theogony, 20) Hesiod recounts the myth of Pandora, in which Zeus feels that, because fire has been brought back to earth, he must offset this favor with burden. And so

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the Gods produced Pandora, described by Hesiod as a precipitous, unmanageable trap. (Works and Days, 39) Pandora is the first of the female sex to be put on earth, a sex described as a great affliction to mortals as they dwell with their husbands no fit partners for accursed Poverty, but only for Plenty. (Theogony, 20) Pandora was given a gift by each of the Gods, each instructed by Zeus to fashion her in a particular way. Athene he told to teach her crafts, to weave the embroidered web, and golden Aphrodite to shower charm about her head, and painful yearning and consuming obsession; to put in a bitchs mind and knavish nature. (Works and Days, 39) It is clear in this particular passage that Hesiod refers to even the feelings that a woman arouses in others (painful yearning and consuming obsession) as gifts given by the Gods, set directly into her person. Ambidexter moulded from earth the likeness of a modest maiden by Kronos design, and the pale-eyed goddess Athene dressed and adorned her. (Works and Days, 39) With the help of the Gods, Pandora was made lovely and desirable, a beautiful interior to house her dark agenda. For Pandora was sent to earth with a jar, or a pithos, containing afflictions to be released upon mankind. Because there was still fire on earth, an aid to man that Zeus had wished to remove, the Gods gifted Pandora and her pithos in contrast; a pretty bane to set against the blessing (Theogony, 20) And so Pandora was gifted to Epimetheus, a man unaware of the contents of her jar and of Pandoras plan to unleash said contents (Works and Days, 39). Hesiod describes this event, writing for formerly the tribes of men on earth lived remote from ills, without harsh toil and the grievous sicknesses that are deadly to men. But the woman unstopped the jar and let it all out, and brought grim cares upon mankind. (Works and Days, 39) It is in this respect that women are connected with the necessity of labor, as it was Pandora, a woman, who chose to unstop the jar, releasing grim cares upon mankind. (Works and Days, 39) Once more, Hesiods writing refers to the theme of appearance in contrast with reality. Pandora has an

Kathryn Ryan agreeable exterior, seemingly harmless and made beautiful by the Gods. The job she is given by the Gods, however, is dark. While she may appear desirable and innocuous, her pithos contains the unfavorable. While Epimetheus saw no evil in her appearance, it was in the contents of the jar she possessed that housed the evil. Just as the bones were hidden by fat and the fire was hidden within the reed, Pandoras wicked agenda was concealed by her beautiful appearance. Another exchange between the mortal and the immortal, the Pandora myth furthers the idea that in exchange between the Gods and man, the Gods will always prevail. That Prometheus succeeded in stealing fire back for mankind does not promote such behavior, for mankind is eternally as a burdened. Such an idea encourages the reader to respect and adhere to the will of the Gods.

Upon reading Hesiods Pandora myth, the pithos is easily seen as an entity separate from that of Pandora. However, nowhere in the myth is it said that the Gods gave her a jar directly. In truth, there is no mention of the jar in Hesiods Works and Days until the very moment at which Pandora unstops said jar. It is in this detail that the meaning of the pithos must be explored. According to Robert E. Meagher, author of The Meaning of Helen: In Search of an Ancient Icon, a pithos is an often huge earthenware jar used to store and to preserve wine or oil or other foodstuffs. Womb-like in shape, it is also a symbol for the earth, the mother of all. The likening of a pithos to the womb is one explanation for Pandoras jar, which could be imagined as the womb of Pandora, the woman who birthed mankinds strife. Hesiod refers to Pandora and her jar as two objects separate from one another. Meagher refers to this as well, writing, imaginatively one, they are literally two, disconnected, estranged. (Meagher, Robert E., The Meaning Of Helen: In Search of an Ancient Icon, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers 1995) The symbolism of the pithos as Mother Earth is significant, as well, for, as Hesiod writes in Works and Days, the

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gods keep mens food concealed: otherwise you would easily work even in a day to provide you for the whole year without working. (Works and Days, 38) As a woman must be fertilized and labored upon by man to produce a child, the earth must be fertilized and labored upon by man to produce sustenance. And just as the womb conceals said child until birth, the earth conceals mans nourishment until given proper care. Furthermore, another reference to interior versus exterior is seen in this section, in Hesiods words to Perses about the gods concealment of food. Thus, a similarity in theme is presented yet again, for valuable food is hidden within the earth, available only to those who work to produce it. Hesiod refers back to Theogony in this section of Works and Days, informing Perses that Zeus concealed food due to Prometheuss crooked cunning (Works and Days, 38). Hesiods work had a great impact on his audience. His work in Theogony and Works and Days promotes awareness and respect for the Gods. He encourages such by demonstrating through various myths the outcome of exchanges between the Gods and man, conveying to the reader that the mortal world could not triumph over the world of the immortals. Hard work, too, is encouraged, as is shown in Hesiods own words to his brother Perses in Works and Days. With his work, Hesiod has extended his influence over vast space and time, and his lessons are prevalent even in modern society. Outside Source: Meagher, Robert E. The Meaning of Helen: In Search of an Ancient Icon. United States: BOLCHAZY-CARDUCCI PUBS (IL), 1995. Print.