Theognis

Together, the poetry of Hesiod and Theognis offers a superb introduction to the life and thought of ancient Greece. Hesiod's Theogony (c. 725 BCE) is a powerful creation myth: an epic, bloody tale of dark forces, sex, and violence, tracing the history of the world from primeval Chaos to the establishment of Zeus as supreme king of the gods. In...

The Greek poetry of the archaic period that we call elegy was composed primarily for banquets and convivial gatherings. Its subject matter consists of almost any topic, excluding only the scurrilous and obscene. In this completely new Loeb Classical Library edition, Douglas Gerber provides a faithful translation of the fragments and significant testimonia that have come down to us, with...