This study of the Theogony and the Works and Days is intended primarily as a contribution to scholarly debate on Hesiod. At the same time, I have tried to make it accessible to students and those interested readers who may be less familiar with the Hesiodic poems. To that end, I have translated quotations from Hesiod and avoided scholarly polemics and academic jargon. I simply find it impossible to use words like conceptualize, thematize, or problematize. I hope my colleagues will forgive such queasiness. Chapters 1 and 2, insofar as they provide an overview of the poems’ contents, can serve as a general introduction to Hesiod's work. Sections of Chapter 3 (on the Muses), Chapter 6 (on Hecate), and Chapter 7 (on the monsters) are in part revised versions of earlier articles (Clay [1984], [1988], [1993a], and [1993b]). Some readers may prefer to ignore the notes where I have acknowledged the work of my predecessors, including both agreements and disagreements. I have also tried to make these more explicit than has become customary by including specific quotations that I have found especially apt or telling.

At a cocktail party, someone once asked me what I was working on. After explaining the general outline of the book, I suddenly realized that I could already compose the book reviews.