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Hesiod has had enough, and Perses needs to be persuaded to reverse his immoral actions. He needs to understand the consequences of his actions, be they good or bad. But how? Hesiod’s poems “An Introductory Hymn to Zeus”, “The Prometheus-Pandora Story” and “The Story of the Ages of Man” help to illustrate his idea that the gods act like parents to humans-their children. The texts show exactly what punishments or rewards the gods-primarily Zeus-impart on humans, and Hesiod wants Perses to expect that he can and will be subject to the same scrutiny. Hesiod wants to appear as being very serious in making his point with “An Introductory Hymn to Zeus”. An interesting bit in this piece is that Hesiod starts by mentioning the duality of Zeus’ abilities, but with the very first one he places the negative ahead of the positive: “…mortal men are both dishonored and honored…as almighty Zeus wills” (Hesiod 3-4). He is emphasizing the negative aspect because it tends to be more persuasive and elicits a much stronger reaction from the audience in mind-this being Perses. Next, he calls upon Zeus to take control of his dilemma-“Hearken, O…Zeus, and straighten our judgments…hold us to justice”-for he can no longer influence his brother to do what is right (Hesiod 9-10). The end result of Perses’ final decision will rest in the hands of the most powerful god in the Pantheon. One of the two major issues raised in the texts deals with the consequences related to putting little, if any, thought into making a decision. Zeus, speaking to Foreman 2 Prometheus in “The Prometheus-Pandora Story”, accuses him of rejoicing in his “theft” and “in having deceived” Zeus (Hesiod 55). This deception will “cause…great pain” to himself and “men in the future”, for Zeus is going to punish everyone with “an evil which all shall take…love and embrace” (Hesiod 56-57). This punishment is Pandora, and only after receiving this gift does Epimetheus come to realize that he has brought punishment to the entire world in the forms of diseases, hard labor, hunger, and other such things with which man is afflicted (Hesiod 89). This gift to men is extremely enticing-much in the way that Hesiod’s portion of his father’s estate appealed to Perses. Because Prometheus failed to adequately think of what would happen by stealing fire from Zeus, he sentenced Epimetheus to suffer from Pandora’s deceit. In turn, his taking of Pandora, despite Prometheus’ advice, sentenced humanity to suffer from that point on and down through the generations. In the same sense, then, Perses is endangering himself and his progeny by stealing what fitfully belonged to Hesiod. So, by taking what is not rightfully given to you is punishable according to all the gods.
Approximate Word count = 1792
Approximate Pages = 7.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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