Chapter Il lavoro come aretè di Esiodo

Abstract

The Works and Days represent the first complete self-awareness of (manual) work in our culture. Since it is impossible to write a poem without interrupting the work activity it speaks of, the Works and Days are also the first case, perhaps the most illustrious in our history, of a literary leisure that tells, in a unit of manual work and intellectual work, the object of one's leisure. According to Hesiod's theology, work is a necessity caused by Zeus' decision to put an end to the golden age. Work is both prosperity and human excellence (aretè), a source of security and a right relationship with life, an activity that requires knowledge and effort, the ability to sustain "good" competition: but all this is unachievable without justice , which only the gods can guarantee, because only it allows us to work without theft of the fruits of labor taking place.