was a native of Cyme in Aeolis, where he was a seafaring trader and,
perhaps, also a farmer. He was forced by poverty to leave his native
place, and returned to continental Greece, where he settled at Ascra
near Thespiae in Boeotia ("Works and Days", 636 ff.). Either in Cyme or
Ascra, two sons, Hesiod and Perses, were born to the settler, and these,
after his death, divided the farm between them. Perses, however, who is
represented as an idler and spendthrift, obtained and kept the larger
share by bribing the corrupt 'lords' who ruled from Thespiae ("Works
and Days", 37-39). While his brother wasted his patrimony and ultimately
came to want ("Works and Days", 34 ff.), Hesiod lived a farmer's life
until, according to the very early tradition preserved by the author of
the "Theogony" (22-23), the Muses met him as he was tending sheep on
Mt. Helicon and 'taught him a glorious song'--doubtless the "Works and
Days". The only other personal reference is to his victory in a poetical
contest at the funeral games of Amphidamas at Chalcis in Euboea, where
he won the prize, a tripod, which he dedicated to the Muses of Helicon
("Works and Days", 651-9).

Before we go on to the story of Hesiod's death, it will be well to
inquire how far the "autobiographical" notices can be treated as
historical, especially as many critics treat some, or all of them,
as spurious. In the first place attempts have been made to show that
"Hesiod" is a significant name and therefore fictitious: it is only
necessary to mention Goettling's derivation from IEMI to ODOS (which
would make 'Hesiod' mean the 'guide' in virtues and technical arts),
and to refer to the pitiful attempts in the "Etymologicum Magnum" (s.v.
{H}ESIODUS), to show how prejudiced and lacking even in plausibility
such efforts are. It seems certain that 'Hesiod' stands as a proper name
in the fullest sense. Secondly, Hesiod claims that his father--if not
he himself--came from Aeolis and settled in Boeotia. There is fairly
definite evidence to warrant our acceptance of this: the dialect of the
"Works and Days" is shown by Rzach [1103] to contain distinct Aeolisms
apart from those which formed part of the general stock of epic poetry.
And that this Aeolic speaking poet was a Boeotian of Ascra seems even
more certain, since the tradition is never once disputed, insignificant
though the place was, even before its destruction by the Thespians.

Again, Hesiod's story of his relations with his