According to his description of himself in Works and Days (ca. 700 B.C.E.), Hesiod was born in a small village he describes as “bad in winter, godawful in summer, nice never,” with one brother, Perses, a lazy and irresponsible swindler who cheated him out of some of his inheritance but later came to him asking for money. Whether these details are true or not, they form the framework for the poem, a speech full of advice addressed to his brother, but designed for a larger audience.

And here’s a fable for kings, who’ll not need it explained:

It’s what the hawk said high in the clouds

As he carried off a speckle-throated nightingale

Skewered on his talons. She complained something pitiful,

And he made this high and mighty speech to her:

“No sense in your crying. You’re in the grip of real strength now,

And you’ll go where I take you, songbird or not.

I’ll make a meal of you if I want, or I might let you go.

Only a fool struggles against his superiors.

He not only gets beat, but humiliated as well.”

Thus spoke the hawk, the windlord, his long wings beating.

Justice

But you, Perses, you listen to Justice

And don’t cultivate Violence.

Violent behavior is bad

For a poor man. Even a rich man can’t afford it

But it’s going to bog him down in Ruin some day.

There’s a better road around the other way

Leading to what’s right. When it comes down to it

Justice beats out Violence. A fool learns this the hard way.

Also, Oath, who’s a god, keeps up with crooked verdicts,

And there’s a ruckus when the Lady Justice

Gets dragged through the streets by corrupt judges

Who swallow bribes and pervert their verdicts.

Later, she finds her way back into town, weeping,

Wrapped in mist, and she gives grief to the men

Who drove her out and didn’t do right by her.

…

Now I’m speaking sense to you, Perses you fool.

It’s easy to get all of Wickedness you want.

She lives just down the road a piece, and it’s a smooth road too.

But the gods put Goodness where we have to sweat

To get at her. It’s a long, uphill pull

And rough going at first. But once you reach the top

She’s as easy to have as she was hard at first.

…

Don’t make dirty money; dirty money spells doomsday.

Return a friend’s friendship and a visitor’s visit.

Give gifts to the giver, give none to the non-giver.

The giver gets gifts, the non-giver gets naught.

And Give’s a good girl, but Gimmee’s a goblin.

The man who gives willingly, even if it costs him

Takes joy in his giving and is glad in his heart.

But let a man turn greedy and grab for himself

Even something small, it’ll freeze his heart stiff.

…

And if the spirit within you moves you to get rich,

Do as follows:

Work, work, and then work some more.

Source: Hesiod, Works and Days and Theogony, trans. Stanley Lombardo, pp. 29–30, 32, 34, 35. Copyright © 1993 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.Reprinted by permission of Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

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