(SOLVED) Comparison of shame in Hesiod’s “Works and Days” and Homer’s “Iliad.”
Write a short essay addressing the question below. Your essay must demonstrate that you have read the material and thought carefully about the readings. You should also have a general argument through which you can answer the question. Do NOT do external research for this assignment, but focus on the primary texts.
Consider: Zeus will destroy this Iron Race of mortal men too, when they turn out to be born with gray hair on their temples. Father will not be of like mind with his sons, nor sons with their fathers, nor the guest with his host, nor the companion with his companion. Nor will the brother be loved as he was before. They will dishonor their parents as quickly they grow old. Wretched, knowing nothing of the gods’ wrath, they will blame them, attacking them with vile words. Nor will they repay their aging parents for the cost of their own upbringing, and might will determine right. One man will storm the city of another. Nor will there be any thanks for one who keeps his oath, or is just, or good, but men will celebrate more the doer of evil deeds and violence. Justice will be what you can get away with, and there will be no shame. The evil man will harm the better, slandering him with crooked words and swearing an oath upon it. And Envy will accompany every wretched human being—shrieking, delighting in evil, foul-faced! And then Shame and Retribution will cover their beautiful skin in white robes and go to Olympos from the earth with its broad paths to the tribe of deathless ones, forsaking humans. Sad pains will be left for mortal humans, and there will be no defense against evil. Hesiod, Works and Days 157-175
This is what Hesiod says about Shame in the Works and Days. Compare this to how shame is utilized in the Iliad, and discuss how the two composers conceptualized the idea. Importantly, consider the possible societal function of shame in the time of these roughly contemporaneous composers.
Reminder on how to cite these texts:
Author, text book.line number(s)
For example: Hesiod, Works and Days 132 Homer, Iliad 1.123-144