Hesiod's Prometheus and Development in Myth

Author(s): E. F. Beall
Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1991), pp. 355-371
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2710042
Accessed: 16-03-2015 19:51 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

University of Pennsylvania Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the
History of Ideas.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod's Prometheusand
Developmentin Myth
E. F. Beall

was notsomegivenentity,
a conceptwith
"Hesiod'sPrometheus"
thetimesofthetwopoemswhich
properties
viewedas fixedthroughout
was a process,as it were,alreadyoperating
in
it.*Prometheus
mention
suchas
theGreekarchaicperiod,notjustin thehandsoflaterwriters
between
theTheogony
andtheWorks
and Days
Plato.The development
of thevaluesunderlying
themodeof
bespeaksa certainconsciousness
I Onemight
alsosayprovisionally
thatsomeneed
wecallmyth.
expression
to transcend
mythis impliedas well.
hasincreasingly
In ourcentury
academicthought
founditdifficult
to
in humanexistence.
ignoretheRomanticthesisthatmythis inherent
Westernphilosophers
and
Earlier,in the wakeof theEnlightenment,
ofmythandreasonin sucha
treated
thecategories
philologists
typically
historical
arenaofarchaicGreecethe
wayas to considertheparticular
tothesecondas thedominant
transition
fromthefirst
sceneofa discrete
Thatis to say,Homerand Hesiodgavewayto new
modeof thought.
thePresocratic
but
Somestilladheretothispicture,
heroes,
philosophers.
forexample,
nowwehavealsohadthephilosopher
ErnstCassirer,
present
whichalwayscompetes
withscience.To Hans Blumythas something
to
exerts"workon myth"in a continuing
attempt
menberg,
humanity
F.
M.
in
effect
held
that
tamereality.2
Classicists
suchas
Comford
have
from
theearliest
Presocratics
a stagein a continuous
growth
represented
* I have profitedfromthe commentsby Pamela Long, DorothyNaor, Sally Rogers,
DorothyRoss, Thomas Africa,Deborah Lyons,Mark Griffith,
and RichardJanko.
' The literatureattempting
to definethisconceptpreciselyamountsto a bottomless
pit,and the discussionbelow will restcontentwitha roughunderstanding:
a mythis a
storyabout anthropomorphic
beings,set in the dim past, withsymbolicimportforthe
givenculture'slifeexperience.
2 ErnstCassirer,ThePhilosophy
ofSymbolicForms,tr.Ralph Manheim(3 vols.;New
Hans Blumenberg,Workon Myth,tr.RobertM.
Haven, 1953-57),especiallyII, xiii-xviii.
Wallace (Cambridge,Mass., 1985).

355
Copyright 1991 by JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS, INC.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

356

E. F. Beall

asOr it is sometimes
bytheTheogony.3
thecreationmythexemplified
within
structures
sertedthatthearchaicGreekswereawareofunderlying
scholarAlbertCook,at
bytheliterary
In a relatedformulation
myth.4
and otherspartookof a higherphaseof
leastsomeof thePresocratics
intheearlierphase
reflection
onitsmeaning
reachedthrough
mythitself,
call myth.5
we normally
remains
withustoday,ifitisnowrespectable
ornotmyth
Butwhether
of
growth
to theintellectual
to considertheHesiodiccorpusimportant
within
itas well
development
archaicGreece,thenshouldwenotexamine
In thecase
toPresocratic
cosmogony?
ofitscreation
myths
as therelation
close
withsufficiently
wehavetwoaccounts
narratives,
ofthePrometheus
in
one
at
least
earlier
on the
to ensurethatthelatteris modelled
content
butmovement
unknown,
part.The sourcesoftheearlierare essentially
ofarchaic
as an achievement
ofinterest
fromitinthelatteris presumably
Greece.
trendin classicalscholarship
To saythisis to opposethedominant
ofa myth.Classicists
issueoftheidentification
properon theparticular
narratives
withHesiodhavetendedtoviewthetwoPrometheus
concerned
between
Thedifferences
entity.
ofthesameunderlying
accounts
as variant
desires
to
different
to
authorial
emphasize
point
them,it is held,merely
of"the"story.6
features
constitute
similarnarratives
thattwothematically
The presumption
andhereithas
be usefulas a first
approximation,
"a" storycancertainly
HowofarchaicGreekthought.7
thestructures
no doubthelpedclarify
notionthattheGreekscanonizedthestorylineof
ever,theunderlying
Principium
Sapientiae(Cambridge,1952).The olderviewofcourse
3F. M. Cornford,
remains,and is perhaps best representedby W. K. C. Guthrie,A Historyof Greek
formulation
intermediate
(6 vols.;Cambridge,1962-81),I, 26-38.A prominent
Philosophy.
is G. S. Kirk,Myth:Its Meaningand FunctionsinAncientand OtherCultures(Cambridge,
1970),238-51.
or metalingualconsciousness"and ar4E.g., mythin Homer displays"metaliterary
chaic art generallystressesthe "paradigmatic"relationsof semiotics,in the formulation
of CharlesSegal, "Greek Mythas a Semioticand StructuralSystemand the Problemof
Tragedy,"Arethusa,16 (1983), 175-78.
1980).
5 AlbertCook, Mythand Language (Bloomington,
(citedbelow),
by the leadingHesiod commentators
6This assumptionis exemplified
but a fewclassicistshave paid attentionto the so-calledvariations.For example,Ernst
bei Hesiod,"inHesiod,ed. Heitsch(Darmstadt,1966),
Heitsch,"Das Prometheus-Gedicht
419-35,uses themin an attemptto extrapolatebackwardto the presumedpre-Hesiodic
Prometheusmyth.
7 For our particular
Vernant,"The MythofPromethexample,notablyin Jean-Pierre
eus in Hesiod," in his Mythand Societyin AncientGreece,tr. JanetLloyd (New York,
1988), 183-201.He actuallyargues the unityto the extentof notingsome apparent
in these
of each storyto the other.However (and apart fromuncertainties
references
to be notedbelow), we do not, forexample,assign a jazz piece based on a
references
popularballad to the latter'sgenre,even thoughtheyhave some sequencesof notes in
common.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod and Myth

357

any given mythseems derivedfroma traditioninformedby Biblical

scholarship.They supposedlyconstruedmythicaleventsas contiguous
withthe quotidianpresent,in the way that ChristianFundamentalism
sees the creation,flood,etc., in Genesis. But the earliestGreeks had
troubleevenconceivingofa continuousconnectionbetweenthemythical
"timeof gods" and theirown "timeof men."8If theyindeed "believed
in" theirmythsin some absolutesense,9thisstilldoes not establishtheir
relationof mythicaltimeto historicaltime nor even that of the "Mt.
Olympus,"whereZeus et al. stillallegedlydwelledin thetimeofmen,to
the physicalpeak in Thessaly.At the least theydid not agree on the
ofthegodsin theHomericpoems
actualitiesof"a" myth.The treatments
manifest
or,as itperhapsseemedto thepoet(s),discovcreativity
certainly
ery.10Thus it is possiblethattheMuses had a basicallyalteredconceptin
mind by the time theyinspiredthe authorof the second Prometheus
narrative.
is theallegationofrecentdecadesthatearlyGreek
Anotherdifficulty
This stresshas produceda
and improvisatory.
epic was "oral-formulaic"
workswas highlyprotracted.
beliefthatthecompositionofthesurviving
Also, a long-heldnotionthattheHesiodicpoemsin particularlack coheron theimprovisations.
Thus somescholence impliesa lack ofconstraint
ars hold that neitherwork was a definiteentityuntil it was written
down (much laterthan the main compositionalactivity)."IThe logical
narratives
conclusionis thatone cannotevenspeakofdistinctPrometheus
times.
assignableto two different
It seems to me that that would carrythe point too far.The early
hexameterpoems probablydid build upon long,overlappingtraditions,
thatanygivenpassageofinterest
and we mustalso respectthepossibility
12 Nonetheless,
statisticameintoitspoemlongafterthemaincomposition.
8 As is arguedespeciallyby M. I. Finley,"Myth,Memory,and History,"Historyand
Theory,
4 (1965), 281-302,on 284-89.One is remindedthattheNativeAustraliansdo not
connectthe "Dream Time" of theirmythsto theirquotidiantime.
9 One can also be skepticalof that.For example,Theogony
27-28 say the Muses tell
truethings."The author(s)mighthave thought
both truthand "falsehoodsresembling
that that poem's own mythsfell in the formercategory,but the statementseems to
presupposea situationwhereothersmightnot agree.
10A goodrecentdiscussionin HartmutErbse,Untersuchungen
zurFunktionderG6tter
versionsof "a"
Epos (Berlin,1986), 1-5.Of course,we also finddifferent
im homerischen
mythin a typicalso-calledtribalsociety.
11An accessiblerecenttreatment
thistrend
ofthecompositionprocesswhichreflects
is RobertLamberton,Hesiod (New Haven, 1988), 1-37.
12 The latestschemaforsuch additionsis FriedrichSolmsen,"The EarliestStagesin
the Historyof Hesiod's Text," HarvardStudiesin Classical Philology,86 (1982), 1-31.
However,some wouldquarrelwiththeextentto whichhe takestheoriginaltexts'coherHis paperalso raisesthe
ence to derivefromlogical,as opposedto poetic,considerations.
issue ofjust who made the additions.Here one can agreewithLamberton,loc. cit.,that
of "Hesiod" is a tenuousconstruct.WhileI use thatterm,or "the poet,"
thepersonality

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

E. F Beall

358

and Worksand
cal studyshowsthatour own Iliad, Odyssey,Theogony,
Days use languageas if theycoalesced in that temporalorder;and we
must assume that,forthe most part,theydid.'3 Most authoritiesnow
theoral-formulaic
conventions
hold that,farfrombetraying
primitivism,
which
in
Homer
in
a
manner
at
least
enhances
the
are used
artistry.14
willhave neededto
Thus it wouldappearthatsuccessive"performances"
Recently,moreover,
respectoverallstructureregardlessof variations.15
has been stronglychalthe view thatthe Hesiodic poemslack structure
lenged,even thoughquestionscertainlyremainas to just what either
In particular,the Theogony's
Prometheus
work'scoherenceconstitutes.'6
withtheoverallpoemat thelevelofverbal
narrativeseemswellintegrated
echoesand similarnuances.17Apartfroma versehereand there,evidently
it cannothave been added afterthebulkofthework(not to mentionthe
Worksand Days) came together.
to be given,
Thus I believewe mayindeedconsiderthetwonarratives
entities.The followingtreatment
constituted
comparestheir
historically
and thendiscussesthe resultsin context.
main stagessystematically,
TrickeryversusOmniscienceor SuperiorTrickery?
The Theogony
beginsitsaccountas follows(vv. 535-70).18 Whengods
and menoriginally
divided,Prometheusdividedan ox, cheatingthemind
ofZeus. He cunningly
disguisedthemeatto look liketheskin,thebones
counsels"said mockingly
like the meat. "Zeus who knowsimperishable
thatthe divisionwas unfair,but "devious Prometheus"invitedhim to
below as a figureof speech,it does seem possiblethateach poem is the workof several
hands (or rather,voices) over a decade or so.
13 See RichardJanko,Homer,Hesiod and theHymns(Cambridge,1982). The results
forseveralstatisticaltestsoflinguisticarchaism,and I believeare inexplicaare consistent
ble on any hypothesisof conscious"archaizing"or of regionaldialectvariation.
14 The Landmarksof World
Literaturediscussionsforthenon-specialist
readerare not
incompatiblewiththepoint;see M. S. Silk,Homer,The Iliad (Cambridge,1987), 16-26;
and JasperGriffin,
Homer, The Odyssey(Cambridge,1987), 14-23.Among specialized
workI onlymentiona good studyofthatlinchpinofthe"oral" theory,thenoun-epithet
formula:Paolo Vivante,The Epithetsin Homer(New Haven, 1982).
15Cf.Griffin,
33.

16 Most recently,
RichardHamilton,The Architecture
ofHesiodicPoetry(Baltimore,
1989) givesintricateanalysesoftheaspectsofthepoemsmostoftenthoughtnotto fitan
overallstructure.
Withoutclaimingthathis contribution
willfinallysettlethematter,one
can suggestthatits prodigiousscholarshipputsthe burdenof proofon anyonedenying
coherence.
17 Notwithstanding
the appearancethat it digressesthematicallyfromthe "main"
accountof originsof the gods. Hamilton,23-40,is forthe mostpartpersuasivehere.
18 Since it is necessary
to referto the texts,I providesynopsesforthebenefitof the
non-specialist
reader(whilespellingout some keyexpressions).A numberof reasonably
intothemajorWesternlanguagesare also readilyavailable;
cogentcompletetranslations
e.g., R. M. Frazer,The PoemsofHesiod (Norman,Oklahoma,1983).

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod and Myth

359

counchoosehisportion.Whilerealizingthedeception,thisimperishably
portionand plannedtroubleformen.Ever
seled Zeus chose the inferior
since,men have burnedthe ox's bones forthe gods in sacrifice.Angrily
counseledZeus ceased
imperishably
chastisingPrometheus'streachery,
sending"untiringfire"to ash treesformen. However,deceivinghim,
splendor"formen,hidingit in the
Prometheusstole fire's"far-shining
splenfire'sfar-shining
hollowstalkofthenarthexplant.Seeinguntiring
Zeus," who insteadof
dor amongmen again angered"high-thundering
an evil formen.'9
fireconstructed
made use hereofspecifically
Greektraditions:
The poethas evidently
use ofthesmoldering
Prometheus'sassociationwithmen,Zeus's epithets,
thathuand perhapsrecognition
pithof the narthexto transportfire,20
trees.We also find
mans once obtainedtheirfirefromlightning-struck
mythin thegenericsense:theaetiologicaldigressionnotingtheoriginof
betweenPrometheusand the
the sacrificeand a long noticedsimilarity
so-calledTrickster.In incarnationssuch as Coyote(Native America)or
Ananse the spider(West Africa),the latteris also knownto act in an
in a waywhichyieldsdisastrous
impudentand craftyfashion,repeatedly,
consequences.2'

basis. The no
revealsa moresophisticated
But carefulconsideration
Prometheusseems,unlikeCoyote,a cut
trickster
longertheriomorphic
More importantly,
theTrickster-High
God conabove menthemselves.22
ofclashing
is cast in sharprelief:we actuallygetan impression
frontation
The
and ofangry,absoluteknowledge.23
ofstealth-concealment
principles
stresson the staminaand radianceof the stolenfiremakesan attackon
Zeus's verydivinityapparent.Finally,while in generalone can be too
quick to invokethe conceptof phallic symbol,Coyote/Ananse'sovert
19I followthe Greek textsof M. L. West,Hesiod, Theogony(Oxford,1966), and
as "West
Hesiod, Worksand Days (Oxford,1978),and cite his associatedcommentaries
507-616.Some
Also, W. J.Verdenius,"Hesiod, Theogony
I" and "WestII," respectively.
on
Commentson a Commentary,"Mnemosyne,24 (1971), 1-10,and A Commentary
Hesiod. Worksand Days,vv. 1-382(Leiden, 1985),are citedas "VerdeniusI" and "Verdenius II," respectively.
20 West I, 324-25,givessome ancientreferences
to the method.
21 For a reviewof the theoryof the Trickster,
in
see RobertD. Pelton,The Trickster
WestAfrica(Berkeley,1980), 1-24.A good collectionof actual Coyotestoriesis Barry
HolstunLopez, GivingBirthto Thunder,SleepingwithHis Daughter(Kansas City,1977);
Folk-Tales(Oxford,1930). The classiccomforAnanse,see R. S. Rattray,Akan-Ashanti
parisonwithPrometheusis Karl Kerenyi,"The Tricksterin Relationto GreekMythol(London, 1956), 173-91.
ogy,"tr. R. F. C. Hull, in Paul Radin, The Trickster
22 As is notedby JaroldRamsey,Reading theFire (Lincoln,Nebraska,1983),40-43.
However,Prometheusis not as god-likeas Zeus.
23 ApartfromZeus's (obvious)omniscience,
to hisanger
thereare actually7 references
and 12 to Prometheus'sdeviousnessin a mere36 verses,assumingthatwe read cholouat
v. 562 withWestI (Zeus neverforgothis anger),ratherthandolouas in mostMSS (Zeus
neverforgotthe deception).

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

E. F Beall

360

viewofthehollowplant
phallicismis wellattested.Freud'scorresponding
stalk24
just mightpointto an abstractionof thatphallicism,even if it is
fire.In short,Prometheus
combinedwiththeplant'sutilityintransporting
thanTricksteralreadyin thispoem.
maybe closerto meta-Trickster
abstraction
here
However,we cannottellhowmuchofthe Theogony's
is originalto it and how muchto itssources,whereasthe Worksand Days
angry
innovatesin itsownright(vv. 47-59).Zeus engagedin concealment,
because crookedPrometheushad deceivedhim.25He wroughtwoe for
men. He hid fire,but "the son of Iapetus" (Prometheus)stole it from
"Zeus ofthecounsels"formen,concealingitfrom"Zeus thethunderer's"
said that,while
sightin thenarthex.In anger"Zeus thecloud-gatherer"
Prometheuswas an unsurpassedschemerand mightrejoiceoverthe deand to men.
ception,thiswouldbe to rejoiceovergreatpain to himselfr6
he
would
men
an
evil
theywould
Insteadof fire(Zeus continued)
give
love.
"So (he) spoke; and laughedout loud/ (did) the fatherof men and
gods."27

In a sophisticatedstructuralanalysisof "the" Hesiodic Prometheus

theinsightthatZeus's concealingactivityhere
myth,Vernantcontributes
is important
to thestory'slogic.In thishe assignsimplicit"hiding,"i.e.,
a deviousZeus,to theearlieraccountas well.28However,Zeus as trickster
has morefacetsin the laterone: in a compactthirteenverseshe hides
in effect,
in
to out-trick
Prometheus,
thingsand thenpromisesforcefully,
highhumoreven if stillin anger.This timethe singlereferenceto his
"counsels"seemsironic,whilehis mockeryis made graphic:"you rejoice
overstealingfire... and overgreatpain ... ." (actually,thelatteralready
humorousremarkin the
suggestswoman:it alludes to Hector'sbitterly
Iliad thathis brotherhas brought"greatpain" forall in bringingHelen
hometo Troy29).To vow thatmenwilllove theevil is surelya diabolical

SigmundFreud,"The Acquisitionand ControlofFire,"in his CompletePsychological Works,24 vols.,ed./tr.JamesStrachey(London, 1953-74),XXII, 187-93.

25 JustwhatZeus concealedis syntactically
uncertain.Most scholarsreadtherelevant
fiveversesearlier,butanotherpossibility
verb'sobjectas themeansoflivelihoodmentioned
is thefirementionedthreeverseslater.Most simplyassumethatPrometheus'sdeception
citedhereis the Theogony
"variant's"swindleoverthemeat:e.g.,WestII, 156;Verdenius
of theTrickster'scharacteras
II, 44; Vernant,183. However,it mayonlybe a reflection
havingalreadyacted in format any pointwe come in on his story.
26 This may referto the Greek tradition
(which,indeed,is mentionedat Theogony
521-25)thatPrometheus'sliverwas devouredby an eagle daily.
27 Ho-s ephat',,
ek d' egelassepater andronte theonte. My translation'soblique line
denotesthe verse'scaesura. Given Homericusage,pater andronte theonte is not the
grammaticalsubjectof ephat'.
28 Vernant,190-92.Cf. PeterWalcot,Hesiod and theNear East (Cardiff,
1966), 60,
who citessome subtlewordordereffectsin the Theogony.
29 II. 3.48-50.VerdeniusII, 47, notesthe syntactical
connection.
24

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod and Myth

361

twist.Finally,thepoetgivesZeus thelastlaugh,as we wouldsay,in an

verse.30
impressive
so farthethrust
subtleor striking,
considered
Thus,be thedifference
wisdomperse to
ofthelateraccountis notthatZeus opposessuperior
as in theearlierbutthathe is to beatthelatterat hisown
Prometheus
game.
FleshingouttheBait;Nymphor Vamp?
givesdetailsoftheevilit
Atthenextstage(vv.571-84)theTheogony
has just said Zeus created.At his orders,the "famouscripple"(i.e.,
an imageofa maidenfromclay.Athenadressed
fashioned
Hephaestus)
herwitha gold
herwithflowers,
andcrowned
her,veiledher,garlanded
images
intricate
had
worked
many
cripple
onwhichthefamous
headband
wildbeastswhichseemedlikelivingbeings.
ofmarvelous
in itselfwhena mythof origins
remarkable
Whilethereis nothing
as basicas woman,herethepoetgoestosometrouble
includessomething
roles
consistent
withtheircompartmentalized
to citedeitiesin a manner
is thecraftsman
god,Athenathegoddessof
inthepantheon.
Hephaestus
so thatit is logicalforthemto createa femaleprinciple.
domesticity,
infirmity,
physical
Hephaestus's
Theremayalsobemoresubtleovertones:
hima figure
offuninGreekeyes,andAthena'sferocity.31
whichrendered
thebeautification
beenused,specifically
Homericmodelshaveprobably
work
inordertodeceiveZeus,andHephaestus's
ofHerabycertain
spirits
The crownwithmarvelous
beingsis more
on theShieldof Achilles.32
It isperhaps
associateitwithanearthgoddess.33
Somescholars
enigmatic.
whichwasindeedan aspectofan
oftheanimals,"
tothe"mistress
related
theGreeksthemselves
earthgoddessintheancientNearEast.However,
Thus it seemsto me plausiblethat
thisidea to Artemis.34
assimilated
Zeus's"imageofa maiden"is meantas an eroticobjectofcontemplation
ofthemaidenNausiinthenymph-like
sense,say,ofHomer'scomparison
In anycaseonedoesnotfindsuchevocative
imagery
caa withArtemis.35
in Coyotestories.
30Cf. Heinz Neitzel,"Pandora und das Fass,"Hermes,104 (1976), 417. I also suggest
the line is enhancedby theformulaicconnectionto "fatherof menand gods" anchoring
the end of numerousHomericverses.
GreekReligion,tr. JohnRaffan
31 On Hephaestusand Athena,see WalterBurkert,
(Cambridge,Mass., 1985), 167-68and 139-43.
bei Hesiod (Bonn, 1975),20-34),and
32 In II. 14 (see Heinz Neitzel,HomerRezeption
II. 18 (see VerdeniusI, 6), respectively.
"The Pandora Myth," Acta Ethnographica,4 (1955),
3 I. Trencsenyi-Waldapfel,
99-128,on 105-7;PatriciaM. Marquardt,"Hesiod's AmbiguousViewofWoman,"Classical Philology,77 (1982), 283-91,on 286-87.
34 Notwithstanding
Marquardt,loc. cit.;see Burkert,149.
35 Od. 6.102-9. See Burkert,150-51.Otherspeculationsare of course possible;e.g.,
Hamilton,33.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

362

E. F Beall

For all that,thecorresponding

Works
and Dayssegment
(vv.60-82)
is evenmoreelaborate.It is dividedmethodically
intotheconception,
manufacture,
andnamingoftheevil.First,Zeus ordered
Aphrodite
and
and Athenato effect
Hermesas wellas Hephaestus
variousfeatures
(in
whata readingin theGreekshowsis impressive
poetry36).
Especially,
whilewe getno crownwithbeaststhistime,Aphrodite
wasto makethe
creature
sexualin a wayto wearmenout.Hermes(thein-house
actively
was to givehera dog-likemindand a deceitful
Olympiantrickster37)
nature.Second,thesedivinities
actuallymadethecreature,
withsome
in replacing
differences,
especially
Aphrodite
bytheGraces,Persuasion,
fromAthena.38
and theSeasons,withassistance
Hermes,as "heraldof
thegods,"39
gavehera voice.Third,HermesnamedherPandora,since
pantes("all") theOlympians
doronedoresan("gavea gift"),a baneto
men.
Whatseemstohappenhereis thatthelaterpoempurifies
theearlier's
ofthefemale
a somewhat
unclearimagewith
conception
entity,
replacing
diabolicalconcept.40
Shenowhasan attested
a calculated
earthgoddess's
itself
a bitter
name,andthenaming
comment
perhapsconstitutes
on the
chthonic"All-giver."'4'
whatever
else it does,the
ancestral
Meanwhile,
theideaofout-tricking
largerolegivento Hermessurelycontinues
Prometheus.
Characters
or Something
Else?
Mythical
next(vv.585-89)saysmerely
TheTheogony
thatafter
the"evilinstead
offire"was created,Hephaestus
outtheresult,and thatboth
brought
immortal
godsand mortalmenwereamazedat this"sheerinescapable

36As discussedby WalterNicolai,HesiodsErga (Heidelberg,1964),29-30.

37 See Burkert,
156-57.Thisfacetofthecharacteris notas frequent
as othersin Homer,
but Erbse,75, citesa fewcases alreadythere.
38 The differences
have been much discussed.Some have takenthemto impugnthe
segment,but see West,II, 160-64,or VerdeniusII, 54-60.They probablycorrespondto
thedifference
betweenthesymbolisms
associatedwithan originalconceptionand a final
result,respectively,
along the lines suggestedby C. J. Rowe, "'Archaic Thought' in
Hesiod," JournalofHellenicStudies,103 (1983), 124-35,on 128-30.
39 Not in Homer,but he eventually
becamegod of speech;see Burkert,158.
40Cf. Trencsenyi-Waldapfel,
105-6.
41 She was still knownas chthonicgoddessafterHesiod's time,at least in partsof
Greece.WhileneitherWestII, 164-66,norVerdeniusII, 58-59,creditstheconnectionin
the poet's mind,virtuallyall otherscholarsdo. See especiallyJoanO'Brien, "Nammu,
Mami,Eve and Pandora:'What'sin a Name?' " ClassicalJournal,79 (1983), 35-45.West
and Verdeniusappearto evictbabywithbathwaterin disputingsome misguidedspecific
formulations.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod and Myth

363

snare."42But thelaterpoemhas it thus(vv. 83-89).AfterZeus completed

the sheerinescapablesnare,he sentHermes,"the swiftmessengerof the
gods leadingthegift(Pandora)" or "the swiftmessengerleadingthegift
ofthegods,"dependingon howwe reada syntactical
ambiguity.43
Hermes
led her,namely,to a personageidentified
as "Epimetheus"(whosename,
theoriginalaudiencewillhavenoticed,meant"afterthought").
The latter
forgotthe warningof "Prometheus"("forethought")
neverto accept a
giftfromZeus. He receivedit and, havingtheevil,realizedthathe did.44
Two pointsare striking.First,Hephaestusis replacedas transport
agentby Hermes.Possiblythe "insteadof fire"phrasein the Theogony
accountservesto counterposeHephaestusto Prometheusas twodifferent
conceptionsof fire-god.In any case, to use Hermesinsteadis, again, a
withtrickery.
matterofopposingtrickery
At a moresubtlelevelthough,
Hermes is the generalized"boundary-crosser."
As examples,he leads
King Priamto and fromAchilles'tentand, morepithily,conductssouls
fromthe land of lifeto thatof death.45Thus not onlyis he the logical
choiceto takethenewcreatureto men;thisactionitselfis richin nuance.
For example,it maybe correctto say,as do some,thatZeus "gives"the
In thatcase Hermeshelpsendow
femalecreatureas fatherofthebride.46
ofmarriagewithawe as wellas diffilculty.
The nuanceswere
theinstitution
probablyenhancedfortheoriginalaudienceby thesegment'ssyntactical
thecharactersHermesand
whichhas theeffectof conflating
ambiguity,
Pandora.
Second, the cleveretymologicalassociationin the relativeattitudes
of Pro- and Epi-metheustowardZeus's giftbringsthemfromsimple
to thelevelofcharactertypes.Mythicalcharactersgenerally
personalities
have symbolicassociationswhichat least scholarsbelievetheycan discover,but heretheseare relativelyobvious.It seemsimpliedthatthere
are people who perceiveevil in advance and otherswho do not but are
able to learnfrommistakes.Somethinglikethatpointwillbe
nonetheless
42
So Frazer translatesdolon aipun amechanon.If one could construedolos here as
"trick"or "deception"in theabstract,thenthiswouldalreadyimplyan overtlydeceptive
Zeus. As appliedto Prometheus's
ownactionsthewordprobablydoes meanthis.However,
its mostdirectsenseseemsto have been the moreconcrete"bait," as in fishing.
43 The ambiguity
seemsbasicto thetext;cf.R. Renahan,"Progressin Hesiod,"(review
of West II), Classical Philology,75 (1980), 339-58,on 347. In disputingthis solution
VerdeniusII, 61, does notconsidertheoriginalaudience'sactualresponseto wordsit had
heardonlya fewversespreviously.
I The havingand the realizingare simultaneous;see VerdeniusII, 62, contraWest
II, 168. But thismeansbothproperties
are important,
so thatEpimetheusis a two-sided
figure.
45 11.24, Od. 24, respectively.
See Burkert,157-58.
46 So most recently,
in effect,GenevieveHoffman,"Pandora, le jarre et l'espoir,"
Quadernidi Storia,24 (1986), 55-89.To be sure,theclaim alreadyappearsin Bulfinch's
which suggeststhat Pandora's famousvessel (discussedbelow) contained
Mythology,
Zeus's weddingpresents.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

364

E. F. Beall

mademoreexplicitly
laterinthepoem.47
True,thereis precedent
ofsorts
inTrickster
forsucha development
folklore
proper.
(In particular,
Ananse
oncecutup a personnamed"hate-to-be-contradicted"
andscattered
the
thisis whyso manypeopletodayhateto
piecestobe absorbed
byothers;
be contradicted.48)
Butat theleast,ournarrative
is moreartistic.
Gynoidor FirstWoman?WisdomLiterature
or Symbolism?
TheTheogony
nowconcludes
itsaccount(vv.590-612).49
Wehearthat
ofmortalwomen,boththe
theprinciple
justcreatedwas theancestress
0 Thena fulltwenty-one
"raceandtribe"ofthesebaneful
creatures.
verses
areusedto saythat(a) womenarelikedronesina beehive,
livingoffthe
laborofothers,
andthat(b) to remainsingleor marry
comesdownto a
choicebetween
stolenbykinsmen,
dyingalonewithone'sinheritance
and
lifeofat bestalternating
inthe
goodandevilwitha woman.In contrast,
mostfamousportion
of"the"mythin either"version,"
Works
andDays
90-104tellus this.As v. 89 states,Epimetheus
knewhe had an evil;for
beforethistime,menwerefarfromdrudgery
and pain,butthewoman
itscontents,
andwrought
opened(some)"jar,""5dispersed
woeformen.
A spirit
namedElpis(usuallytranslated
"Hope,"alternatively
"Expectanot
it
did
out
before
alone
will
of
Zeus
tion"52)
fly
closed,by
(ifa disputed
verseis genuine).
Nowevilsroamamongmenbylandandbysea;diseases
comeautonomously
becauseZeus of the
by day and by night,silently
counselsremoved
theirvoices.
inthisjournaloverfourdecadesago,Frederick
In an article
published
observed
thattheTheogony's
Teggart
already
female
"doesnothprinciple
47 Vv. 293-97comparethestrengths
and failingsof he who plans in advance,he who
at leastlistensto good advice,and he who does neither.Walcot,62, suggestsa connection
betweenthe two passages,althoughhe and mostotherstake Epimetheusto be simply
stupid. That would be the latter'sreputationin later Greece, and a segmentin the
Theogony'stheogonyproperalreadycalls him "wrong-headed."However,some have
suspectedinterpolation.
Anotherviewthathe is two-sidedat leastin the Worksand Days
is thatofWilliamBerg,"Pandora:Pathologyofa CreationMyth,"Fabula, 17 (1976), 25.
48 As relayedby Rattray,106-9,and by Pelton,25-27.
49Apartfroma moral. Theogony613-16 and Worksand Days 105 are to the effect
thatone cannotfoolZeus. Neitherespeciallycalls forcomment.
50 Perhapstheimplication
is boththegeneraland theparticularofwomen;cf.Nicole
Loraux, "Sur la Race des femmeset quelques-unesde ses tribus,"Arethusa,11 (1978),
43-87. West I, 329-30,denies the authenticity
of the verse.However,his reasons are
contingent
on its beingrepetitive,
and I disagreethatthatis an issue;cf. VerdeniusI, 8.
s The reasonwe now speak,rather,of Pandora's"box" is thatErasmusconfusedthe
storiesof Pandora'spithosand Psyche'spyxis;see Dora and ErwinPanofsky,Pandora's
Box (2nd ed., Kingsport,Tennessee,1962), 14-26.
52 "Hope" may undulyimportChristianconnotations;
see mostrecentlyValdis Leinieks,"Elpis in Hesiod, Worksand Days 96," Philologus,128 (1984), 1-8,on 8.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod and Myth

365

ing," in contrastto the other'sconcreteactionsubjectingmen to evil.53

beand differences
we may put the structuralsimilarities
Alternatively,
tweenthe two narrativesegmentsin the followingway. In the earlier
accountthediscoursemodemythactuallycollapsesin favorofthedifferentgenreof maxims.The principleHephaestushas broughtout to show
gods and men does not participatein a storyabout anthropomorphic
characterswithpersonalitiesbut is simplytakenas occasion to espouse
misogynyof the sortendemicto male-onlygatheringsof
cracker-barrel
breakmanytimesand places.4 In theotheraccounta somewhatdifferent
aboutwhether
downhas alreadytakenplace at a priorstage:theambiguity
Hermes or Pandora is "of the gods" and the shiftto an etymological
focus.It maybe thatthesecollaboratedto distracttheoriginalaudience's
attention,thus allowingthe poet to smugglein somethingnew. In any
case, as has longbeenrecognized,the Worksand Days segmentherewas
myth.It musthave been familiar,sinceknowledge
originallya different
of thejar's provenanceis assumed.55
of the details of the priorjar
We need not attemptreconstruction
has
resortedto an archetypal
narrativeto see that this time the poet
mythicalformin orderto developthefemaleprincipleand thathis treatmentof it is rich in symbolism.It is commonin world folklorefora
woman(oftenFirstWoman herself)to act foolishlyand bringon some
Greek
One can certainlyspeculatethatsome specifically
Ur-calamity.56
Pandora,constituted
ofthetheme,perhapsalreadyinvolving
development
In anycase, emergencefroman earthenware
vessel,
thepriornarrative.57
of the world,
also a commonmotif,seemsto standfora transformation
thespecificone ofsimpleactivationofthevessel'scontents.
notnecessarily
(For example,a Hopi mythassignstheoriginofthetribeto an originally

J.Teggart,"The ArgumentofHesiod's Worksand Days," JHI, 8 (1947),

53 Frederick
45-77,on 48-50,althoughhe calls the firstprinciple"Pandora" and believesthe second
was originallysomeoneelse.
54It is easy to believethatsuch a locus was thesmithy'sshop of Worksand Days 493
ffwhich,to be sure,say thatyou should findworkto do ratherthan congregatethere
duringthe slack winterseason.
55This has beenunderstoodat leastsince 1913;see A. S. F. Gow, "Elpis and Pandora
in Hesiod's Worksand Days," in Essaysand StudiesPresentedto WilliamRidgeway,ed.
E. C. Quiggin(Freeport,N.Y., 1966),99-109,on 99-100.
56 One listofexamplesis RobertBriffault,
TheMothers,3 vols.(New York, 1927),II,
to getthelid
115-16.Pandora can be read as attempting
571. Cf. Trencsenyi-Waldapfel,
back on thejar but too late,by will of Zeus (if v. 99 is genuine);cf.VerdeniusII, 71. A
comparableexamplefromtheBlackfeetofMontanais (Ramsey,8-9)FirstWomanwishing
to undo a wagerwhichhas originateddeath,but "Old Man" sayingthatthe law is now
fixed.
of a vessel with a
5 There is archaeologicalevidence of pictorialrepresentation
chthonicearthgoddess.To be sure,otherspeculationsforthepriornarrativeabound,not
necessarilyinvolvingPandora; e.g., VerdeniusII, 64.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

366

E. E Beall

non-Hopipersonescapingfroma jug in whichhe had been born.)58The

And thenthere
importof the devoicingof the evilsis muchdiscussed.59
ofElpis in thejar. The meaninghereadmittedly
is theenigmaticretention
turnson a certaindisputeoverwhetherthissays she is keptimprisoned
awayfrommen or is whatremainsto men.60But if we accept the latter
reading,as seemsmostnatural,thenas a resultofthemyth'sactionsman
is now an "elpidic being."961In this connectionsome suggestthat still
anotheretymologicalconnectionis meant:Men no longerhave "forebut only"fore-seeming"
(prosdokia,synonythought"withPrometheus,
mous withelpisat leastto thelaterGreeks).62A citationof elpislaterin
Perhapsthe myth
the poem suggeststhatit amountsto self-deception.63
givesthe originof Sartre'smauvaisfoi.4 In any case, in the accountof
the Worksand Days theend resultofPrometheus'sshenanigansis highly
nuanced.
ReligiousAmalgamationor Ethical Abstraction?
fitintoculturalhistory?
DiscusHow do thesePrometheusnarratives
those
sions of "the" role have oftenseen thisas a matterof prefiguring
such
componentsof laterculturewhose emotiveaspectis predominant,
religion.As observedabove,othersectionsof the
as art or systematized
Theogony(i.e., creationmyth)are sometimesthoughtto anticipatemore
academic matters(Presocraticphilosophy).Yet Hans-GeorgGadamer,
forexample,viewsHesiod's Prometheusin relationto the"tragic"figure
Bound attributed
to AeschyoftheclassicalAtheniandramaPrometheus
sin
in
narrative
of
with
the
Genesis,66
Eden
original
lus.65Otherscompare
58 Relayed by H. R. Voth, The Traditionsof the Hopi, Field ColumbianMuseum
Series,VIII (Chicago, 1905), 155-56.
Anthropological
to determine
whatZeus's
byLeinieks,6-7.However,itsseemsdifficult
59 Mostrecently
actionmeanswithoutknowingits timeand place withrespectto Pandora's,and on that
pointthe textis silent.
60 Represented,
forexample,byVerdeniusII, 66-70,and WestII, 169-70,respectively.
The firstpositionis dependenton readingthejar's contentsas themselvesevil,and it as
see Neitzel,"Pandora
a prison,but thishas longbeen disputed.For recentalternatives,
und das Fass;" and E. F. Beall, "The Contentsof Hesiod's Pandora Jar:Erga 94-98,"
Hermes,117 (1989), 227-30.
61 In the termsof SiminiaNoica, "La boftede Pandore et 'L'ambiguite'de l'elpis,"
Platon,36 (1984), 100-124,on 116-18.
62 See HermannTurck,Pandora und Eva (Weimar,1931),9-10;RichardOnians, The
OriginsofEuropean Thought(Cambridge,1951),404.
63 Namely,manymen relyon "empty"elpiswhentheylack the meansof livelihood,
insteadof working(vv. 498-501).
fromDostoevskyto Sartre
6" In the construalof Walter Kaufmann,Existentialism
(Cleveland,1956),222.
65 Hans-GeorgGadamer,"Prometheusund die Tragodieder Kultur,"in his Kleine
299-326.
3 vols. (Tubingen,1967-72),II, 64-74. Cf. Blumenberg,
Schriften,
" The moresophisticated
assignmythswhereevil/sinexistspriorto man
treatments
to one type;Adam-Eve to another.See, e.g., Paul Ricoeur, The Symbolismof Evil, tr.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod and Myth

367

a parallelbetweenPandoraand Eve whichhas beennoticed

exploiting
sinceancienttimes.67
toreligion.
Prometheus
As tothis,itispropertorelatetheTheogony's
setting
therecannotreallybe isolatedfromitsprimordial
The narrative
which
informs
of
one
another
ofgodsandtheirmutilations
oftheorigins
is treatedas one of theTitans,the
theoverallpoem.For Prometheus
of earth,
principles
betweentheprimeval
groupof beingsintermediate
godswhocameto
Eros,etc.,whichspawnedthemand theOlympian
propafterthetheogony
vanquishthem.His storyis placedimmediately
andhisdefeatis oneexample
ofhimand someoftheothers,
er'slisting
of
Thus theconfrontation
amongothersof Zeus's conquestof them.68
from
ofstealthand angrywisdomnotedearlieris inseparable
principles
herethat,forall our
like it. It is noteworthy
theologyor something
arecompaCoyotestories
onunderlying
structure,
stress
account's
greater
feelthatgiving
sucha narratypically
as NativeAmericans
rableinsofar
it.69
distorts
tiveoutofcontext
Whileit canbe
is another
matter.
andDaysnarrative
ButtheWorks
the originof human
in religiousterms,say,by assigning
interpreted
it nonetheless
bringsa
vis a vis thegodsto Pandora'sact,70
autonomy
todeceive
attempt
ifyou(Prometheus)
moralclosetothesurface:
certain
yourapproachwitha
(Zeus), it willjust reflect
the world'sstructure
thegivingof life
Specifically,
Prometheus).
(Zeus out-tricks
vengeance
(Pandoravia Hermes),and youwillendin
itselfwillbecomedeceptive
you.71You can learnthis
(Elpis)evenas eviloverwhelms
self-deception
thislogic.In
assistsinabstracting
Also,thecontext
lesson(Epimetheus).
for
of
working
realistic
discussion
follows
a
theactualpoemthenarrative
a living,
genre.It beginsas ifitwillexplainmen'slot,and
i.e.,a different
whichmany
narratives
presented
it is followed
bytwootherdiscretely
lessonsintheir
details)seeas offering
scholars(tobe sure,whiledebating
That
ofthepoem.72
to themaindidacticportion
ownways,preparatory
someaccountdoesappeartoanticipate
is tosay,thesecondPrometheus
in thedomainofethicalphilosophy.
thingacademic,essentially
to comparewitha mythPlatowouldlaterputin the
It is instructive
To be sure,theparticular
Protagoras.
mouthofthe"sophist"philosopher
itself'doesnotoccurthere(although
perpetuates
logicthat"deception
Ugo Bianchi,
EmersonBuchanan(New York, 1967), 175-210,232-78;or morerecently,
Prometeo,Orfeo,Adamo (Rome, 1976), 55-70.
67
107; O'Brien.
Amongauthorscitedhere,see Turck;Trencsenyi-Waldapfel,
68 See Ricoeur,206-10;or forthe poeticintegration
Hamilton,23-40.
69
Some tribesevenbelievethattellingCoyotestoriesout ofcontextupsetsthecourse
of the universe;see BarreToelken,The DynamicsofFolklore(Boston, 1979),283-84.
70
32.
See, e.g., Blumenberg,
71
notedabove.
Assumingwe take appropriatepositionson the controversies
72 West II and VerdeniusII give numerousreferences
concerningthe "'fiveraces of
fableat the appropriatelocations.
men" and the hawk-nightingale

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

368

E. F. Beall

we findit implicitelsewherein Europeanculture.)73

Nonetheless,Protaofvirtuewitha mythos,
gorasis madeto begina speechon theteachability
thisand logos("argument")in places as each useful
whiledistinguishing
in its respectiveway. Assignedto createmortalbeings,Prometheusand
He
Epimetheusagreedthe latterwould allot themtheircharacteristics.
failedto reservesome good qualitiesformenwhilecreatingtheanimals.
So Prometheusstolefireand craftknowledgeformen fromHephaestus
and Athena.Fearingfortheirsurvival,Zeus thengave themshameand
justicevia Hermes,insuringtheseto all whereasPrometheushad allotted
This is whymentakeadviceon virtuesfromeveryone
craftsindividually.
but on craftsonlyfromfew.Argumentsabout Athenianviewsand practiceson virtuethenfollow.74
We notice immediatelythat the second Hesiodic and Protagorean
"variationson the themeof' Prometheushave some motifsin common
pairingHephaestusand Athena,
(such as Epimetheuslackingforesight,
pointis theircommonjuxtaposition
Zeus and Hermes).But theimportant
of each type
of different
typesof discourse,indicatingconceptualization
as an entityin and of itself.The "fiveraces of men" narrativewhich
followsin the Worksand Days is evenstatedto be "anotherlogos"with
of the termlogositself,to
respectto its antecedent.The understanding
and Plato mayofcourseintend
is different,75
encompassbothnarratives,
ironyin havingthe much despisedSophismspeak as if mythwere as
usefulas logical argumentation.76
Also, Protagorasis said to make his
pointdirectly,whereaswithHesiod the moralnotedabove remainsbeneath the surface.Yet the abilityto see mythas one discoursetype
amongothersseemscommonto bothcases. Giventhevagariesofartistic
compositionwe cannotbe preciseon just how the Worksand Days auBut surelyit is fairto say that the
thor(s) graspedmythabstractly.77
notjust mythography.78
manifests
treatment
mythology,
thecharacterwitha Trickster73 Notablyin Wagner's"Ring" cycle.In Das Rheingold
likerole(Loge) persuadestheHighGod (Wotan)to employstealthto securetheNibelung's
ring,on thegroundsthatthelatterhad alreadystolenthegoldto fashionit. Here too ruin
ensues,at the cycle'send.
74 The mythproperis at Plato, Protagoras320C-323A,the speechat 320C-328D. A
(Lewisburg,
is PatrickCoby,Socratesand theSophisticEnlightenment
recentcommentary
Pennsylvania,1987), 53-70.
Homericusage
75 Most translatelogonat Worksand Days 106 as "story,"following
withtheplurallogoi.But thesucceedingaccountofentiregroupsofmen,notindividuals,
is not a storyin thenormalsense,evenifHesiod does not yetmean "argument"as does
Plato. I suggest"discourse."
76 Cf. Blumenberg,
328-35.
" I doubt we can tell whereHesiod or the earliestPresocraticsstood in the gray
area betweensheer"poeticinspiration"and the methodicalsettingof priorconceptsto
communicative
discourse.Thus we cannotimpute,forexample,Vernant'sanalysisofthe
to anyactual
Prometheus
mythintothreediscretelevels(formal,semantic,social-cultural)
consciousnessat the time.
78 At least with
respectto the Prometheusmythitselfand probablymore.Cook, 54,

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiod and Myth

369

At the same time,however,thereis a certaincontrarytrendin the

narrafromtheTheogony
Prometheus
matterofwoman.The development
tive to that of the Worksand Days is in the directionof an essentially
mysticalviewofwomanas problematicentity.The earlierpoem'smisogynyis replacedbyone which,althoughlesscrudeon thesurface,nonetheless conceivesof woman as monstrousin a mannerapproachingthe
psycho-analytically
primordial.Both thatHesiodic scholarshipwhichis
in orientation
and thatwhichsees "the" Hesiodicattitudetoward
feminist
women as relativelybenignhave tendedtowardthe commonview of
ofthetwoaccounts.79
essentialidentity
However,thelaterone's diabolical
detailin fleshingout thefemaleprinciple,theperversionof thechthonic
outcomeofheractiongo ratherbeyond
image"Pandora,"and thefateful
in a beehive.Instead,the imagery
are
like
drones
the view thatwomen
suggestsDorothyDinnerstein's"DirtyGoddess" psychologicalconcept,
wherebywe experiencewomanas awesomeevenas we rejectherbody.80
natureeffectively
becomesa religionin the Works
Her allegedproblematic
and Days.
Presumablythe author(s)of thelaterHesiodic poem wishedto compose a piece more relevantto daily lifein the small scale agricultural
settingof Boeotia in thelate eighthor earlyseventhcenturiesB.C., than
had beentheearlier.Still,thelatter'sutilityas a poeticmodelwas recognized,perhapsin themannerthattheOdyssey'sauthor(s)had viewedthe
intoa purerformof myth
Iliad.8"We may speculatethatretrenchment
womenwas occasionedby the latterhavingbecome an
in denigrating
plow
easy targetin agriculturalcircleswiththe onsetof male-oriented
82 Perhapsalso an increasedpopulatechniquessomecenturiespreviously.
and as conditionedby femalewantonness.In
tionwas seen as a threat,83
backhandedlyallowsthat"the" HesiodicPrometheusmythis "allegorized,"whileclaimingthatmostofthetextoftheHesiodicpoemsremainsin the"Neolithic"phaseofmyth.
withinan artistically
on and offofself-consciousness
However,one maydoubtanyturning
poem.
integrated
Linda S. Sussamongrecentwork,despitetheirdisagreements:
'9 Most prominently
man,"Workersand Drones:Labor,Idlenessand GenderDefinitionin Hesiod's Beehive,"
Arethusa,11 (1978), 27-41; Marquardt; Jean Rudhardt, "Pandora, Hesiode et les
42 (1986), 231-46.MarylinB. Arthur,"CulturalStrategies
Helveticum,
femmes,"Museum
in Hesiod's Theogony:Law, Family, Society,"Arethusa,15 (1982), 63-81, on 74-75,
thema bit more.
differentiates
80
DorothyDinnerstein,The Mermaidand theMinotaur(New York, 1976), 124-56.
81
As evidencedby linguisticdependences,the Worksand Days is verymuch aware
of all threeearlierpoems. Perhaps its author(s) also profitedfroma certainartistic
self-consciousness
Homeristshave noticedin the Odyssey.
82 So Thalia PhilliesHowe, "Linear B and Hesiod's Breadwinners,"
of
Transactions
theAmericanPhilologicalAssociation,89 (1958), 44-65,on 62-63.
83 However,thattherewas objectively
a crisisis unproven.(Nor can thisbe shown
fromourpoemitself;see,e.g.,ErnestWill,"Hesiode:CriseAgraire?ou reculde l'aristocratie?,"Revuedes Etudes Grecques,78 (1965), 542-56.)

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

E. F. Beall

370

withGreek
thepoemsis certainly
consistent
anyeventthetrendbetween
to an
afterHomerhad at leastbeenwillingto allotpersonality
history:
socisexist
a
highly
or Penelope,classicalAthensbecame
Andromache
milieuwill have requiredpositive
For all that,the agricultural
ety.84
in personal
as comparedwithtrickery
appraisalof straightforwardness
ofa
Surelythisis whatproducedandcoloredtheemployment
relations.
context.
ethical
mythin a fundamentally
Prometheus-Zeus
FromMythto Sociology?
stillessentially
within
pointsto a development
The abovediscussion
awayfrommyth,
mightalso prefacemovement
which,however,
myth,
theworldwhichthelater
towardthemoreliteralmodesofrepresenting
oftheideathatGreek
be suspicious
Onecancertainly
Greeksconceived.
in anycontinuous
way,butanotherpossible
myth"led to" philosophy
as tonecessitate
so manifest
seeking
becoming
inadequacy
modelismyth's
alternatives.
narrative
ofthesecondPrometheus
contexts
Considertherespective
to
andthe"parallel"Adam-Evestory.Thelatterdoesleadcontinuously
itself:it is integrated
moreliteral,withintheOld Testament
something
Cain-Abel
fromtheimmediately
succeeding
history,
intoa purported
In contrast,
theGreeknarrative
storydowntotheauthor'srecentpast.85
is followedby "anotherlogos"aboutfiveraces.It is thelatterwhich
of
ordersothergenerations
roughly
situation,
beginswitha primordial
present/future.
andendswiththepoet'squotidian
menchronologically,
to see it as "myth"in thesamesense
a tendency
Thus,notwithstanding
fromthe
its treatment
of eventsin timeis different
as its antecedent,
latter's"oncegodsacted;nowwe havedisease."It actuallyreadsas if
therewerethreeevenearlier"timesofgods"beforetheonewherethey
mentioned
just priorto thepresent
in Homer'sbattlefields,
intervened
betweenmythand a theoryof
It seemsintermediate
"timeof men."86
realizedlikethenatural
haditbeenhistorically
which,
socialdevelopment
wouldnothavebeenespeinitiated,
"science"theearliestPresocratics
oriented.
ciallyempirically
84 A reviewof the relevant
literatureis PhyllisCulham,"Ten Years AfterPomeroy:
Studiesof the Image and Realityof Womenin Antiquity,"Helios, 13.2 (1986), 9-30.
85 If theso-calledDocumentary
Hypothesisis validin somethinglikeitsclassicform,
thentheassimilationto a putativehistorydownthroughtheentranceintoCanaan (which
surelyhas someactualhistoricalbasis) had alreadytakenplace a fewhundredyearsafter
that,stillsomehundredsofyearspriorto redactionofthePentateuchas we now have it.
is
and accessible,ifcursoryreference
A non-dogmatic
Of courseall thisis controversial.
JohnBright,A HistoryofIsrael (3rd ed., Philadelphia,1981), 67-74.
in sayingthatthisnarrative
86 Thus Finley,286-87,and Rowe, 132-34,are incorrect
containsno timeelementwhatever.Whileone mightdenyit thestatusof "history"since
it has deviationsfromchronologicalorder,is quite symbolic,and is less criticalthan
Herodotus,it simplyis nota mythin thegenericsenseofa concretestorywithcharacters.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Hesiodand Myth

371

hereis thatthefailureto integrate

thePrometheus
My suggestion
narrative
is relatedto its
narrative
itselfintoanytypeofquasi-historical
a highdegreeofsymbolism
endsin
tendency
to transcend
"story,"where
Pandoraand Hermesand in stressing
etymology.
True,even
conflating
illustration
thatEpimetheus
knewhehad
after
thattheneedofa concrete
like thejar storythe poet importsto
an evil maydictatesomething
thatexhauststhemomentum,
concludehis account.Perhaps,however,
in orderto continue
an entirely
newmodeofdiscourse
the
necessitating
poemitself.
thattheenigmatic
oftheso-called
HansBlumenberg
saying
speculates
orso later,"all things
arefullofgods,"
first
philosopher
Thalesa century
ofmyth.87
andtospeakprovisionally
ad absurdum
is a reductio
However,
the Works
and Daysmayal(thematter
mightbe exploredelsewhere),
newmeansifmore
taletothepointofrequiring
readybringtheTrickster
is to be said.
D.C.*
Washington,

87 As one of a numberof attemptsto "bringmythto an end" he notes duringthe

25-26.
courseof his book; Blumenberg,
* 721 6th Street,S.E., Apt. B, Washington,D.C. 20003.

This content downloaded from 129.194.8.73 on Mon, 16 Mar 2015 19:51:15 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions