God And The Land: The Metaphysics Of Farming In Hesiod And Vergil
by Stephanie A. Nelson /
1998 / English / PDF
18 MB Download
In this pathbreaking book, which includes a powerful new
translation of Hesiod's
In this pathbreaking book, which includes a powerful new
translation of Hesiod'sWorks and Days
Works and Days by esteemed
translator David Grene, Stephanie Nelson argues that a society's
vision of farming contains deep indications about its view of the
human place within nature, and our relationship to the divine. She
contends that both Hesiod in the
by esteemed
translator David Grene, Stephanie Nelson argues that a society's
vision of farming contains deep indications about its view of the
human place within nature, and our relationship to the divine. She
contends that both Hesiod in theWorks and Days
Works and Days and Vergil
in the
and Vergil
in theGeorgics
Georgics saw farming in this way, and so wrote
their poems not only about farming itself, but also about its
deeper ethical and religious implications.
saw farming in this way, and so wrote
their poems not only about farming itself, but also about its
deeper ethical and religious implications.
Hesiod, Nelson argues, saw farming as revealing that man must live
by the sweat of his brow, and that good, for human beings, must
always be accompanied by hardship. Within this vision justice,
competition, cooperation, and the need for labor take their place
alongside the uncertainties of the seasons and even of particular
lucky and unlucky days to form a meaningful whole within which
human life is an integral part. Vergil, Nelson argues, deliberately
modeled his poem upon the
Hesiod, Nelson argues, saw farming as revealing that man must live
by the sweat of his brow, and that good, for human beings, must
always be accompanied by hardship. Within this vision justice,
competition, cooperation, and the need for labor take their place
alongside the uncertainties of the seasons and even of particular
lucky and unlucky days to form a meaningful whole within which
human life is an integral part. Vergil, Nelson argues, deliberately
modeled his poem upon theWorks and Days
Works and Days, and did so in
order to reveal that his is a very different vision. Hesiod saw the
hardship in farming; Vergil sees its violence as well. Farming is
for him both our life within nature, and also our battle against
her. Against the background of Hesiods poem, which found a single
meaning for human life, Vergil thus creates a split vision and
suggests that human beings may be radically alienated from both
nature and the divine. Nelson argues that both the
, and did so in
order to reveal that his is a very different vision. Hesiod saw the
hardship in farming; Vergil sees its violence as well. Farming is
for him both our life within nature, and also our battle against
her. Against the background of Hesiods poem, which found a single
meaning for human life, Vergil thus creates a split vision and
suggests that human beings may be radically alienated from both
nature and the divine. Nelson argues that both theGeorgics
Georgics and the
and theWorks and Days
Works and Days have been misread
because scholars have not seen the importance of the connection
between the two poems, and because they have not seen that farming
is the true concern of both, farming in its deepest and most
profoundly unsettling sense.
have been misread
because scholars have not seen the importance of the connection
between the two poems, and because they have not seen that farming
is the true concern of both, farming in its deepest and most
profoundly unsettling sense.
