Hesiod, if we accept his traditional and generally accepted chronological placement, exists in the shadow of Homer in terms of language and meter, but not in terms of theme or narrative technique.

His poem "Works and Days," dedicated to agricultural life, the foundation of archaic Greek economy, offers practical instructions for more efficient cultivation of the land. In addition to its advisory character, the work contains fragments of proverbial wisdom prompted by the injustice the poet experienced at the hands of his brother Perses during the distribution of their father’s inheritance.

In the "Theogony," his other major poem, there is the programmatic statement of the Muses that, when they wish, they can speak truths and not lies that resemble truths.

From Hesiod’s other works, only fragments survive. The pseudonymous poem "The Shield of Heracles" is preserved intact, its composition dating back to the first third of the 6th century BC. The first 54 lines refer to the wondrous birth of the hero and likely derive from the related story of "The Catalogue of Women." It is followed by the duel of Heracles with Cycnus, the son of Ares, and finally, there is a description of the hero’s shield, which was composed in conscious competition with the famous description of Achilles' shield in Book 18 of the "Iliad."

[Excerpt from the text of the preface]