The Poems of Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, and the Shield of Herakles

All I wanted was a hardback edition of Hesiod’s poems to accompany me on a trip to Greece. What this book arrived it exceeded any expectation I had on what the edition had to offer. Alright, there was no dust jacket cover. But the hardback edition — at least the one that arrived — was printed on fancy, expensive glossy paper. There were plenty of color illustrations and maps of geographical areas mentioned in the poems. There were genealogical charts which explained who married whom and who begat whom, their children, family history, etc. This made the narrative much easier to follow. Even though we may have heard these myths a million times before, you would be surprised how confusing it is to keep all the names straight. The translation is straightforward and in plain, standard English, avoiding Victorian platitudes (“Oh, Zeus!” for example) to make the verse sound more lofty. Verbal flourishes like this is a turn-off for me. Indeed, the translation appears to stick to the original Ancient Greek.The translation succeeds in giving a compelling narrative of stories told for millennia. All and all, this is a pretty decent edition of Hesiod’s work.

I was just looking for the poems, but this book has maps, pictures and tons of commentary. Enjoying it very much.

I purchased this on a whim, because I've been on a mythology kick lately. It's a little hard to get into at first, but that's to be expected with translations of older works. Still, Hesiod gives a good run down of the major players in the Greek pantheon.

It has everything you need in terms of content; nothing less. The editorial is insightful. I might add that this edition is better quality than another in my personal book collection. At least I like it more that the other paper-book I have.

Great book.

terrific ... lucid, with wonderful explanations and great pictures. highly recommended.

I wanted to see if the translation was any good, so downloaded the sample to get an idea of how the translation is. Many modern translations are crimes against literature and are cringe bordering on ebonics in an effort to be colloquial. Did the sample give an sample of the translation to find out if Powell is a perpetrator of such crimes? Nope. It's a sample of introductory remarks, which are worthless in determining the quality of translation.

I was gonna buy it but then I saw Homer's review. "So full of himself! Puts himself in every stanza! He should be reporting the news, not being it!"

Great translation.

Despite the packaging being intact and the book being shrink wrapped, after I unwrapped it I noticed the book was faulty; one corner is damaged and there is a hole through the cover and pages.