batch.motif.greek-hesiod-homeric-hymns-evelyn-white-gutenberg-l366-l450
---
record_id: batch.motif.greek-hesiod-homeric-hymns-evelyn-white-gutenberg-l366-l450
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
passage_locator:
label: ENDNOTES / PREPARERS NOTE / PREFACE / INTRODUCTION; lines 366-450
start: '366'
end: '450'
translation: Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage summarizes traditions and scholarly arguments about Hesiod’s
family origin, his quarrel with his brother Perses over inheritance, his poetic
instruction by the Muses on Mt. Helicon, and his victory at funeral games in Chalcis.
It also discusses doubts and defenses concerning the historicity of these autobiographical
notices and later elaborations of the contest story involving Homer, Apollo, and
Delos.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Hesiod’s father is described as a native of Cyme in Aeolis who left because
of poverty and settled at Ascra near Thespiae in Boeotia.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Hesiod and Perses are described as two sons who divided their father’s farm
after his death.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Perses is represented as obtaining and keeping the larger share by bribing
corrupt lords.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Hesiod is described as living a farmer’s life before the tradition in which
the Muses met him while he tended sheep on Mt. Helicon and taught him a glorious
song.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: Hesiod is said to have won a poetical contest at the funeral games of Amphidamas
at Chalcis in Euboea.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The prize for the contest is described as a tripod that Hesiod dedicated to
the Muses of Helicon.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage states that the appearance of the Muses must be treated as a graceful
fiction, while also noting it as an early tradition about Hesiod.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:8
text: Later versions are said to have elaborated the Chalcis contest by making Homer
Hesiod’s opponent and by transferring a contest involving hymns to Apollo to Delos.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Hesiod
description: Poet represented as one of two sons of the settler, a farmer or shepherd,
instructed by the Muses, and victor in a poetical contest.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:3
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Perses
description: Hesiod’s brother, represented as an idler and spendthrift who received
a larger share of the farm through bribery.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Hesiod’s father
description: Unnamed father of Hesiod and Perses, described as a native of Cyme,
a seafaring trader and perhaps farmer, who settled at Ascra.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Muses of Helicon
description: Divine figures in the tradition who met Hesiod on Mt. Helicon, taught
him song, and later received his dedicated tripod.
role_refs:
- role:7
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Amphidamas
description: Person whose funeral games at Chalcis are connected with Hesiod’s poetical
contest.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:7
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Homer
description: Named in later elaborations as the opponent whom Hesiod conquered.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Apollo
description: Named in the later elaborated contest in which the two poets contended
with hymns to Apollo.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: brother pair
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:2
basis: The passage identifies Hesiod and Perses as two sons of the same father.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:2
label: migrating father and settler
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Hesiod’s father leaves Cyme because of poverty and settles in Boeotia.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:3
label: farmer or shepherd
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hesiod is described as living a farmer’s life and tending sheep on Mt. Helicon
in the tradition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: recipient of Muse-taught song
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The Muses are said to have met Hesiod and taught him a glorious song.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: contest victor and dedicator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Hesiod wins a poetical contest and dedicates the tripod prize to the Muses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: disputed inheritance holder
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: Perses is represented as obtaining and keeping the larger share of the divided
farm by bribery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:7
label: divine instructors of song
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: The Muses teach Hesiod a glorious song in the reported tradition.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:8
label: recipients of dedication
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Hesiod dedicates the tripod prize to the Muses of Helicon.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:9
label: funeral-games honoree
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The contest is located at the funeral games of Amphidamas.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:10
label: later legendary opponent
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Later versions make Homer the opponent whom Hesiod conquered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: recipient of contest hymns in later version
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: A later account has the two poets contending with hymns to Apollo.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Mt. Helicon
literal_form: mountain
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: sym:2
label: tripod prize
literal_form: tripod
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:3
label: divided farm
literal_form: farm inheritance
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: funeral games
literal_form: poetical contest at funeral games
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Migration from Cyme to Ascra
summary: Hesiod’s father leaves his native Cyme because of poverty and settles at
Ascra in Boeotia.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Inheritance division and brotherly quarrel
summary: After their father’s death, Hesiod and Perses divide the farm, and Perses
is said to keep the larger share through bribery.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Muses instruct Hesiod on Helicon
summary: In an early tradition, the Muses meet Hesiod while he is tending sheep
on Mt. Helicon and teach him a glorious song.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: scene:4
label: Contest victory and dedication
summary: Hesiod wins a poetical contest at Amphidamas’s funeral games in Chalcis
and dedicates the tripod prize to the Muses of Helicon.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Later elaboration of the contest story
summary: The passage reports that later versions made Homer Hesiod’s opponent, included
hymns to Apollo, and transferred the contest to Delos.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: divine instruction in song on a mountain
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The Muses meet Hesiod on Mt. Helicon and teach him a glorious song; the passage
frames this as an early tradition but also as a graceful fiction.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage is introductory and critical rather than a primary narrative;
it explicitly cautions that the appearance of the Muses should be treated as fiction.
- id: motif:2
label: quarrel between brothers over inheritance
taxonomy_refs:
- sibling_pair
basis: Hesiod and Perses are brothers who divide a farm, with Perses represented
as obtaining the larger share by bribery.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage discusses whether Perses and the quarrel are historical rather
than presenting an extended mythic narrative.
- id: motif:3
label: poetic contest with prize dedication
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Hesiod wins a poetical contest at funeral games and dedicates the tripod
prize to the Muses.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: medium
cautions: No supplied taxonomy family directly matches poetic contest or dedication;
later elaborations are distinguished from the modest version.
- id: motif:4
label: migration and resettlement caused by poverty
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: Hesiod’s father leaves Cyme because of poverty and settles in Boeotia.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: low
cautions: This is biographical movement rather than a developed mythic departure
episode.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage itself contrasts a modest report of Hesiod’s contest with later
elaborations in which Homer becomes his opponent, hymns to Apollo are included,
and the setting is transferred to Delos.
claim_level: same_motif
target: later Greek traditions of the Contest of Homer and Hesiod
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage only summarizes later developments and does not provide
the full later narrative.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 366-373
quote_or_summary: Hesiod’s father, a native of Cyme in Aeolis and a seafaring trader,
is said to have left because of poverty and settled at Ascra near Thespiae in
Boeotia.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 373-379
quote_or_summary: Hesiod and Perses are described as the settler’s sons; after their
father’s death they divided the farm, and Perses is represented as bribing corrupt
lords to obtain and keep the larger share.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 379-383
quote_or_summary: Hesiod lives a farmer’s life until, according to an early tradition,
the Muses meet him while he tends sheep on Mt. Helicon and teach him a glorious
song.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 383-386
quote_or_summary: Hesiod’s other personal reference is to victory in a poetical
contest at Amphidamas’s funeral games at Chalcis, where he wins a tripod and dedicates
it to the Muses of Helicon.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 421-430
quote_or_summary: The passage treats Theogony 22-23 as early tradition about Hesiod
and says the appearance of the Muses should be treated as a graceful fiction,
while noting that a later writer believed in Hesiod’s actuality and his life as
farmer or shepherd.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 431-438
quote_or_summary: Later versions elaborate the contest story by making Homer the
opponent Hesiod conquered, developing the contest narrative, and transferring
a contest with hymns to Apollo to Delos.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 438-450
quote_or_summary: The passage reports criticism of the Works and Days contest lines
based on identifying Amphidamas with a figure of the Lelantine War, then argues
that the name may have belonged to an earlier Chalcidian.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/greek/project-gutenberg/hesiod-homeric-hymns-homerica.md
rights_note: Public domain source; concise summary.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward, but the passage is a modern introduction
evaluating biographical traditions rather than a primary mythic episode. Motif
candidates are therefore cautious.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No external sources or unprovided taxonomy IDs were used.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:greek-hesiod-homeric-hymns-evelyn-white-gutenberg__l366-l450
passage_sha256=53fd6b0e8ecca54d8cf401c0a9052375087029bbebbbf30eb41b9fa4d5f24184