Transformation of Creation: Hesiod and Ovid

Paper Summary:

This paper notes that humanity has searched for the means and the language to explain and comprehend the creation of the universe since its own beginnings. The paper also explains that both Hesiod and Homer responded to this need to explore the origination of the world and mankind through their respective oral and literary traditions. The paper then goes on to discuss how Hesiod's "Theogony" and Ovid's "The Creation" both relate to formulating understandings of the creation of the cosmos, and notes their similarities and differences.

From the Paper:

"Hesiod's Theogony stands at the beginning of European literary tradition--written between 800 and 600 BCE. His three major works of poetry were assembled synonymously with those of Homer (Lamberton 1). He remains as one of the four mythic bards who are recognized as a "source of Greek tradition" (Lamberton 1). Despite his humble origins as a Boetian peasant (Lamberton 8), Hesiod's account of the origins of the universe is said to be one of many, but its survival and later influence over authors such as Ovid speak to the value placed upon it by later authors (Lamberton 12). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hesiod. Works & Days / Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett,1993: 61-90.
• Kenney, E.J. Introduction. Metamorphoses. By Ovid. Trans. A.D. Melville. New York:Oxford UP, 1986. xii - xxix.
• Lamberton, Robert. Introduction. Hesiod. Works & Days / Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993. 1 - 16.
• Metamorphoses. By Ovid. Trans. A.D. Melville. New York: Oxford UP, 1986.

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