“I would rather die before or be born afterwards” (Hesiod, Op. 175)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14195/1984%20-249X_22_2Keywords:
Hesiod, mythe of mankind, justice, Erga, hopeAbstract
According to the scheme of five ages or races of mankind, Hesiod affirms to live in the Iron Age, and complains: “I would rather die before or be born afterwards” (Op.175). A superficial interpretation of the myth could argued that, given the cyclical nature of time, history will repeat, and in the future there will be a new golden age, in which Hesiod would have preferred to be born. Nothing more wrong: the Earth is no longer the universal mother, woman was yet invented, human beings are now born by sexual union, and men must work for living. A return to the past is impossible, ergo, unthinkable. In order to explain the strange wish of “born afterwards” I propose the following hypothesis: the first four Ages (three traditional: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and the fourth, them of Heroes, added by Hesiod to justify the historical past) are paradigms to follow. With these four paradigms in view, Hesiod faces his time, the conflictive Age of Iron. According to the model that will follow, the future will be pleasant or negative. All depends on the values chosen, justice or injustice, respect for the gods or their lack of understanding. Everything is possible, because Hope stayed always hidden in the jar of Pandora.
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