Theogony

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Visualizing Hesiod’s Theogony”

In this activity, students will use creative thinking skills to produce an artistic interpretation of Hesiod’s narrative.

The Theogony is full of striking visual imagery, including descriptions of the gods, fearsome monsters, and the underworld. In this activity, choose one of the numerous entities or locations described by Hesiod and create a visual representation of it. Use any medium of your choice, and consider the following:

• Who or what have you chosen for your visual representation?
• How does Hesiod describe this entity or location? What are its defining qualities?
• What role does this entity play in Hesiod’s cosmos? How can this role be reflected in a visual representation?

Students can share their visual representations with the class after they complete them. This should spark discussion on Hesiod’s descriptive style, including his use of language, symbolism, and imagery.

Teaching Suggestion: Many students are likely to choose very prominent figures from the text, such as Zeus or Typhoeus. Consider encouraging students to also consider more obscure entities, such as Tartaros or Chaos. This could also be a great opportunity to discuss the importance of myths in ancient Greek art: You could show the students these images of ancient vase paintings, for instance, and discuss how these visual representations of gods, heroes, and mythical creatures compare to Hesiod’s poetic descriptions of them.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with aphantasia may find it difficult to visualize the scenes they are being asked to draw. These students may benefit from having some preselected visual references to draw from. To strengthen students’ written communication skills, consider amending this activity to include a written component: Students might analyze Hesiod’s choices in rendering the chosen entity or location, or they might write a reflection piece detailing their creative processes.

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Much of the Theogony deals with the “Succession Myth” where the rule of the cosmos is transferred from Ouranos to Kronos to Zeus.

• What is the Succession Myth, and why is important in Hesiod’s poem? (topic sentence)
• Analyze the main characteristics of Hesiod’s Succession Myth, relating it to contemporary Greek ideas about kingship, justice, religion, and/or Generational Succession.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on why the Succession Myth ends with Zeus as opposed to continuing indefinitely.

2. Gender and misogyny feature prominently in the Theogony, with distinct power imbalances arising between male and female figures.

• How does Hesiod depict gender and gender roles in the text? (topic sentence)
• Analyze Hesiod’s representation of gender and gender roles, making sure to consider the role of figures such as the Muses, Gaia, and Pandora.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, compare and contrast Hesiod’s attitude toward mortal women and his attitude toward goddesses.

3. Kingship is a major theme throughout the poem, with different divine figures representing different aspects of kingship.

• What is the overall role of kingship in the poem? (topic sentence)
• Discuss Hesiod’s ideas about kingship and the relationship between Kingship Theory and other concepts, especially justice.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on why some gods are more closely associated with kingship than others.

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by textual details, and a conclusion.

1. Hesiod has been called the first true “author” of western literature. What does this mean? What makes Hesiod more of an author than other contemporary poets such as Homer? In your response, consider what Hesiod tells readers about his life and background in his poetry, as well as what readers might be able to infer about him. You might also reflect on other poems attributed to Hesiod (especially the Works and Days) and/or ancient biographies of him.

2. There are many tricksters in the Theogony, including the Muses, who “know how to tell many believable lies, / But also, when [they] want to, how to speak the plain truth” (Lines 28-29). What is the significance of the Muses’ ability to tell lies and truths equally well? How does this ability reflect on Hesiod’s poem? How are the potentially deceptive Muses connected to other Tricksters in the poem, including Rheia and Prometheus?

3. In describing the origins of the gods and the cosmos, Hesiod’s Theogony very notably leaves out any real reference to the creation of humanity. What does the text have to say about humanity? In what episodes from the text do we encounter humans? What kind of relationship do humans have with the gods? Why might Hesiod have chosen not to speak about the creation of humanity?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What meter does Hesiod use in the Theogony?

A) Free verse

B) Blank verse

C) Dactylic hexameter

D) Elegiac couplets

2. Who teaches Hesiod the art of composing poetry?

A) The Muses

B) Zeus

C) Hekate

D) Homer

3. Why is Kalliope the most important of the Muses, according to Hesiod?

A) Because she is the companion of kings

B) Because she is capable of turning people to stone

C) Because she is the wife of Zeus

D) Because she is the wife of Apollo

4. Why is music so powerful, according to Hesiod?

A) It can allow someone to control others.

B) It can make a person forget their pain.

C) It comes from the gods.

D) It creates profits for singers.

5. Who succeeds Ouranos as ruler of the cosmos?

A) Zeus

B) Okeanos

C) The Hundred-Handers

D) Kronos

6. Which goddess is born when Ouranos’s genitalia fall into the ocean?

A) Gaia

B) Aphrodite

C) Hekate

D) Eros

7. What is the “monstrous deed” (Line 209) for which Hesiod says the Titans will be punished?

A) Overthrowing their father

B) Disobeying their mother

C) Marrying their sisters

D) Fighting against the Olympians

8. How does Hesiod represent Hekate?

A) As a terrible witch

B) As a goddess of music

C) As a kindly friend of mortals

D) As an underworld goddess

9. Why is Zeus brought up secretly on Crete?

A) To raise an army

B) To hide from his siblings

C) So his father cannot find him

D) So his mother cannot find him

10. What is Atlas’s punishment?

A) He is killed.

B) He is thrown into Tartaros.

C) He is forced to hold up the sky.

D) He is cursed to have an eagle eat his liver every day.

11. Why does Zeus create Pandora?

A) Because humanity needs a way to procreate

B) Because the Fates tell him to

C) To reward humanity for their honesty

D) To punish humanity for Prometheus’s theft of fire

12. Who is the ruler of the Underworld?

A) Hades

B) Zeus

C) Kronos

D) Gaia

13. Who is Hades’s wife?

A) Gaia

B) Persephone

C) Aphrodite

D) Hera

14. Why is Athena born from Zeus’s head?

A) Because that is how all gods are born

B) Because his father cursed him

C) Because she is the embodiment of wisdom

D) Because Zeus swallowed her mother Metis

15. Which of the following gods is born of a union between Zeus and a mortal woman?

A) Ares

B) Hermes

C) Apollo

D) Dionysos

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating textual details to support your response.

1. How does Rheia save Zeus from being swallowed by Kronos?

2. How does Gaia respond to the rise of the Olympians?