The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women

This collection of essays offers an exploration of the meaning and significance of the Catalogue of Women, attributed to Hesiod.

The Catalogue of Women, ascribed to Hesiod, maps the Greek world and its heroic myths through the mortal women who bore children to the gods. In this collection leading scholars offer an exploration of the meaning, significance, and reception of this fascinating and highly influential poem.The Catalogue of Women, ascribed to Hesiod, one of the greatest figures of early hexameter poetry, maps the Greek world, its evolution and its heroic myths through the mortal women who bore children to the gods. In this collection a team of international scholars offers an attempt to explore the poem's meaning, significance and reception. Individual chapters examine the organization and structure of the poem, its social and political context, its relation to other early epic and Hesiodic poetry, its place in the development of a pan-Hellenic consciousness, and attitudes to women. The wider influence of the Catalogue is considered in chapters on Pindar and the lyric tradition, on Hellenistic poetry, and on the poem's reception at Rome. This collection provides a significant approach to the study of the Catalogue.